Your Free Consultation Is Scheduled!

What to Expect

During the consultation, we will ask about:

• What happened and where the incident occurred

• The diving operation and work being performed

• The companies, vessels, contractors, and equipment involved

• The injuries, medical treatment, and resulting financial losses

• Any benefits, wages, or medical care that have been denied

• Important deadlines and the possible laws governing the matter

Commercial-diving cases may involve the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, general maritime law, maintenance and cure, workers’ compensation laws, product-liability law, or claims against third parties. The law that applies can depend on the diver’s employment status, work assignment, location, vessel connection, and other facts.

Please Preserve the Evidence

Commercial-diving evidence can disappear quickly. If available, preserve copies of:

• Personal and company dive logs

• Depth, bottom-time, ascent, and decompression records

• Diving supervisor and operations logs

• Dive plans, hazard analyses, and safety procedures

• Video, photographs, helmet-camera footage, and sonar data

• Text messages, emails, WhatsApp messages, and radio communications

• Medical records, discharge instructions, prescriptions, and bills

• Pay records, contracts, timesheets, and benefit information

• Incident reports and communications with employers or insurers

• Names and contact information for witnesses and crew members

• The names of every employer, contractor, vessel, platform, and project owner involved

• Diving equipment, clothing, computers, gauges, and other physical evidence connected to the incident

Do not alter, repair, test, discard, or surrender potentially relevant equipment without first documenting its condition and obtaining legal advice. Do not delete electronic communications or social-media content relating to the incident.

If relevant evidence is controlled by an employer, vessel owner, contractor, or another company, tell us during the consultation. Formal action may be necessary to preserve it.

Before the Consultation

If possible, have the following information available:

• The date and location of the incident

• The employer’s and diving contractor’s names

• The vessel, barge, platform, facility, or project name

• The diving supervisor’s name

• A brief timeline of what occurred

• The deepest depth and approximate bottom time

• The breathing gas and diving system used

• The symptoms or injuries experienced

• The names of hospitals, physicians, or hyperbaric facilities involved

• The identity of any insurance adjuster or company representative who contacted you

• Copies of anything you were asked to sign

You do not need to organize everything before speaking with us. Attend the consultation even if you have only partial information.

Protect Your Rights

Until you have received legal advice:

• Do not sign a release, settlement agreement, resignation, or waiver that you do not fully understand.

• Do not provide a recorded statement merely because an employer or insurance adjuster requests one.

• Do not speculate about the cause of the incident in writing or on social media.

• Do not post photographs, medical information, or details about the incident online.

• Keep copies of every document you submit to an employer, insurer, government agency, or medical provider.

• Record the names, dates, and substance of important conversations.

• Follow legitimate medical instructions and attend scheduled treatment.

These are general precautions, not legal advice concerning your particular matter.

Medical Emergencies

A scheduled legal consultation is not a substitute for medical care. Decompression illness and other diving injuries can worsen rapidly or appear after an initial delay.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or seek immediate emergency medical treatment. Do not delay necessary treatment while waiting to speak with an attorney.

For diving-related medical guidance, contact the Divers Alert Network Emergency Hotline at +1 (919) 684-9111. DAN does not replace emergency medical services.

Important Notice

Scheduling or attending this consultation does not create an attorney-client relationship. Charles International Law represents a person only after:

1. The firm completes its conflict-of-interest and case review;

2. The firm agrees to accept the representation; and

3. The client and the firm sign a written engagement agreement.

Until those steps are completed, you should not assume that Charles International Law represents you or will take action to protect any deadline. Legal claims can be subject to short and varying deadlines.

Please do not submit Social Security numbers, complete financial-account numbers, passwords, or other unnecessary sensitive information.

Need to Reschedule?

Please use the rescheduling or cancellation link in your confirmation email. If you cannot locate the email, contact Charles International Law as soon as possible.