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Best Defense Base Act Lawyer Straight Talk: Why Can't I Find A DBA Attorney Near Where I Live?

By William Turley

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 22Feb2012 Word count: 806 Viewed: 81 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Defense Base Act Attorney Straight Talk

This article is one in a series of Defense Base Act Lawyer Straight Talk articles. These articles are based upon 25 years of representing DBA workers. If you search for "Defense Base Act Attorney Straight Talk" or "Defense Base Act Lawyer Straight Talk" on the Internet, you will find a dozens of articles where we provide you with great free and useful information so you can understand and win your Defense Base Act case. In essence, we give you an insider's view of the Defense Base Act.

Hire The Best Defense Base Act Lawyer You Can Find

As with all legal matters, we recommend folks hire the very best lawyer for the particular niche area of the law that they need. Today, lawyers are highly specialized. Don't settle for a lawyer that doesn't specialize in DBA cases. We tell people that they need to hire the very best Defense Base Act Lawyer that they can. Oftentimes, that means hiring a lawyer that is located far from the injured DBA workers' home. Because of this, we are often asked, "Why can't I find a good DBA Lawyer near where I live?

But Why Can't I Find A Defense Base Act Attorney That Is Nearby Where I Live?

There are three main reasons why you may not be able to find a seasoned DBA Attorney near where you live. First, in order to understand why you can't find a good Defense Base Act Attorney nearby where you live, we first have to step back for an instance. The Defense Base Act is an extension on the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA). The DBA itself contains no substantive provisions. All of the DBA's "substantive" provisions are found in the LHWCA. Meaning, with a few exceptions, the Defense Base Act follows Longshore Act Law.

Second, historically, Longshore Lawyers are on the East Coast, Gulf States and the West Coast. It follows that a Lawyer must be near workers covered under the LHWCA in order to become experienced as a Longshore Lawyer. For example, our main offices are in Oakland and San Diego. San Diego has the largest shipyard on the West Coast. These shipyard workers are Harbor Workers covered by the Longshore Act. Oakland has one of the largest container ports in the United States. All of the Oakland Longshoremen fall under the Longshore Act.

Third, until the first Gulf War, there were relatively few Defense Base Act workers. In many instances, tasks and jobs which were formerly performed by U.S. Military personnel in prior wars were now being performed by civilian contractors. With America's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan came hundreds of thousands of defense contractor workers. These workers are all covered by the Defense Base Act if they are injured overseas.

Soon defense contract workers from every State and across the world worked in Iraq and Afghanistan. When many of these Defense Base Act workers are seriously injured and come home - they come home to States where there are no Longshore Lawyers.

Thus, the lawyers in their State that agree to take DBA cases either have to learn the Defense Base Act/ Longshore Act in a hurry - - or these lawyers are eaten up alive by the DBA insurance company lawyers. We see this every day. DBA workers call us - frustrated at best, defeated at worst. At best there case is going nowhere - at worst there case has been lost - - by a local workers' compensation lawyer that should not have taken their case to begin with.

The fact of the matter is that while many lawyers claim to be Defense Base Act Lawyers, they have little experience with these cases. Instead of referring the case to an experienced DBA Lawyer, they get taken to the cleaners by savvy DBA insurance company lawyers. Which brings us back to what we always tell seriously injured DBA workers - - you are going to need the best DBA Lawyer you can find that will take your case. You also should know: under the Defense Base Act, your lawyer does not need to be licensed to practice law in your State in order to represent you. The DBA is Federal Law - not State Law. The best Defense Base Act Lawyer for your case may be based many States away from where you live.

Disclaimer

This article is not legal advice. We are simplistic in order to achieve clarity. Whenever you are bringing a court case your credibility is always at issue. Always tell the truth.

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