Why Deepwater Horizon Rig Survivors Shouldn’t Be in a Hurry to Sign a Waiver or Hire a Lawyer

Immediately after the news broke regarding the unfortunate Transocean rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, countless lawyer advertisements started to appear. These ads were an attempt to persuade the survivors of the oil rig accident to hire their law firms and to take action fast. That’s the last thing rig workers should be doing right now.

Research Your Options
The Gulf of Mexico rig explosion will fall under federal maritime law, which provides a 3-year timeframe to file a legal action. While there are some exceptions that could shorten this deadline, it shouldn’t be any less than a year. With that being said, rig workers and their families who were affected by this tragedy have time. They should research their options and not run out and hire the first lawyer they find.

Be Careful About Signing Papers
Being pursued by personal injury lawyers isn’t the only issue that the rig survivors have faced, as there have been reports that Transocean requested them to sign papers not long after the deadly explosion. Supposedly, hours before the survivors were allowed to see their families, Transocean’s legal team was in full force, ready to take action.

The attorneys representing Transocean asked workers to sign form letters about what they had seen and whether they had been injured. These forms allegedly had paragraphs that contained statements such as “I was not a witness to the incident requiring the evacuation and have no first hand or personal knowledge regarding the incident,” and “I was not injured as a result of the incident or evacuation.”

Our maritime lawyers are the leaders in this field of law and we will likely have a leading role in this litigation. If you were impacted by this catastrophic accident, we encourage you to take your time. You don’t need to hire a lawyer yet and you shouldn’t feel pressured to sign anything.

For information on what you should and shouldn’t do right now, order Houston maritime attorney Brian Beckcom’s report, Answers to the Most Common Questions About the Transocean Rig Explosion. The report is free to the rig survivors and their family members.