Catastrophic Maritime Injury Attorneys Who Fight for the Seriously Hurt

When an accident at sea leaves you or someone you love with a life-altering injury, you need a firm that understands both the medicine and the maritime law behind these cases. Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A. are the nation’s leaders in representing passengers and crew who have suffered catastrophic injuries aboard cruise ships and other vessels. Since 1971, our firm has recovered over $500 million for our clients, handled more than 4,000 cases, and built more than 250 years of combined experience across our team. When your injury is catastrophic, you deserve attorneys who take on the largest cruise lines and maritime employers every day.  We have been honored throughout our firm’s history to successfully resolve many truly life altering injuries including paralysis, amputations and catastrophic burns.

What Makes a Maritime Injury Catastrophic

A catastrophic injury is one that permanently changes how a person lives, often requiring lifelong medical care and preventing a return to work or daily routine. Depending on the nature of the accident, a victim can sustain devastating harm to the spinal cord, the brain, and the body’s vital organs.

• Spinal Cord Injuries and Paralysis. Trauma to the spine can leave a victim paralyzed. Those with complete spinal cord injuries often suffer a total loss of movement and feeling below the site of the injury, while those with incomplete injuries experience partial loss. Many of these injuries require lifelong rehabilitation and care.
• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). A blow or jolt to the head can substantially impair a victim in one or more areas of functioning. A TBI may affect the whole brain or a limited region, and its effects on memory, cognition, and physical ability are often permanent.
• Internal Organ Damage. Serious trauma to the body’s vital organs can cause permanent harm, leading to the need for ongoing treatment, follow-up surgeries, and in some cases organ transplants. Where a needed transplant is unavailable, such injuries can be fatal.
• Burns and Loss of Limbs. Fires, explosions, and equipment malfunctions at sea can cause severe burns and the loss of limbs, injuries that demand extensive surgery and permanent adaptation.

How Catastrophic Injuries Happen at Sea

Countless conditions can cause an accident on the water, including strong currents, navigational hazards, violent storms, and human error. For passengers and crew, negligence is one of the most common causes. Cruise lines and maritime employers are required to maintain safe conditions and to protect the people aboard their vessels from avoidable hazards.

Crew members face particular risk. Maritime employers are supposed to train their workers on current safety practices and provide adequate protection against dangerous conditions, yet some negligently fail to do so, and it is the worker who pays the price. Accidents stemming from explosions and fires, equipment malfunctions, and falls and other deck incidents can lead to lost limbs, burns, and worse. When a maritime employer’s negligence causes catastrophic harm, injured crew may have rights under the Jones Act and general maritime law.

Contact Our Maritime Catastrophic Injury Attorneys Today

Whether you were hurt aboard a cruise ship halfway around the world or while working offshore, Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A. is ready to help. As a firm named to “Best Law Firms”® by US News & World Report since 2016, with 6 attorneys named to “Best Lawyers”® in America and over $500 million recovered for our clients, we have the experience and resources to hold negligent companies accountable. You may be entitled to significant compensation for your injuries. Contact us today or call 877-233-1238 to speak with an experienced maritime attorney for a free and confidential consultation.