WHAT IS MY BOATING INJURY CASE WORTH
How much your boating accident injury case is worth depends upon several factors and here is one you may not have considered. Are you choosing a boating accident attorney specialist, or are you going with just a car accident attorney? It is estimated that there are only somewhere between 50-100 attorneys in the State of Florida who regularly practice maritime law every day.[1] Also recognize that of the 50-100 maritime attorneys at least half of them are working for insurance companies, or cruise lines, or corporations, and not for individual injured boating accident victims. This first factor is an important one when you compare that choice to choosing the right doctor for your situation. One would not go to an eye doctor to talk about the need for heart surgery. Choosing the wrong attorney—one who only generally does personal injury—can affect your bottom line enormously.
For people who have never had to pursue a boating accident injury case it may be unknown what it is about their specific case which determines the value of it. There are two major elements to a boating accident case which have to be proven.
LIABILITY
It is not enough that a person sustains injury from a boating accident, it must be demonstrated that the boat operator, or the boat club, or boat manufacturer, or another passenger, etc., caused the injury for which the injured person seeks financial recovery. Sometimes injured boating accident victims will incorrectly believe that if they sustain injury it automatically means they get to recover. That may be what is on TV shows, but that is not the law in Florida. A claimant has to demonstrate there is some person or entity who is responsible for the injury incident. This is why it is important you choose an experienced maritime attorney rather than an attorney who handles dogbite cases. In Florida, and in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, and the rivers and lakes there are rules of operation and laws which govern rights-of-way for vessels.
Make no mistake, if you cannot establish fault on the part of another person or entity, then the law considers that you cannot recover—no matter how bad your boating accident injuries are. Again, this is why it is important to choose your boating incident attorney wisely to know why the other person or entity is responsible under maritime law.
DAMAGES
The second foundational element, after liability, which has to be proven, is damages. “Damages” is the word used in the law to mean, your financial losses from medical bills, and lost wages, plus your injuries and pain and suffering. First, remember the claimant has to prove the liability in their case to even be able to recover damages. Here are the standard damages in a boating accident case:
- Medical bills.
These are the medical bills which arise from the injury incident and which can be proven to arise from the injury incident. The law still places the task on the claimant of showing the medical bills are related to the boating incident. Many times a person injured in a boating accident will have been in a previous auto accident or worker’s compensation injury incident, or have had an injury or surgery in the past. This does not mean the person injured in a boating accident cannot recover for their medical bills, it simply means the obligation is on the claimant to demonstrate the medical bills are from this boating accident injury. Again, because your attorney needs to know maritime law if the boating accident occurred in Florida, you need to choose your attorney wisely.
Right now maritime law allows a person to put into evidence all of their medical bills, and the defense can then argue the bills are not reasonable or related to the incident; It is then the jury who decides what is reasonable and related. This also relates to future medical bills which the claimant can show are reasonable and related to his or her boating accident.
2. Lost wages.
Similar to medical bills an injured boating accident victim has the right to ask for repayment of their lost wages, if they have lost wages. This is usually an easy mathematical calculation between how much time was missed and the claimant’s rate of pay. The defense gets to argue the time off is not related to the incident nor is the amount reasonable, but it is the jury who ultimately makes that decision. There also can be a “future lost wages” component. Consider, if a carpenter sustains an upper-body injury in a boating accident and now can only earn 50% of what he was previously earning, then this is known as loss of earning potential. Like proving medical bills, this generally comes down to proof by the math.
3. Injuries and Pain and Suffering.
When a jury considers this damage there is no simple math to look at like with medical bills and lost wages. Awarding pain and suffering damages is completely within the discretion of the jury. The worse the injury, then typically the larger jury award for pain and suffering. Also, the higher the medical bills the more the juries tend to award higher pain and suffering damages, and this makes sense. If you sat on a jury for a personal injury case and the claimant advised the jurors his medical bills from his incident are only $500, how much would a jury award that person for pain and suffering? Likely zero, because $500 in total medical bills does not seem like much to litigate. Whatever the jury would award or not award, it is within their discretion—and typically higher medical bills produce higher pain and suffering awards.
Each case depends upon its own facts. Remember, one cannot escape or forget that proving Liability must occur before Damages may be awarded.
The bottom line is that a person who has suffered a boating accident injury should seek experienced maritime counsel to handle their case, as opposed to a general personal injury practitioner who may have a boating case once every 5 years. Calculating how much your case is worth can be done by considering the above factors. To recount: 1. One must prove Liability against another person or entity, or there is no recovery at all. 2. Damages—after liability is proven–are comprised of Medical Bills, Lost Wages, and Pain and Suffering/Injury. There is no secret formula like is suggested on
Your recovery is not based upon which attorney has the most expensive shoes or suit—the juries do not care about that. Better contact the most experienced and successful attorney you can find to prove your boating injury case.
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[1] Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute membership directory(, a/k/a “SEALI”).
