American and foreign companies are hiring many workers from Kosovo, Macedonia and the Balkans to work in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of the jobs in Afghanistan and Iraq are placing innocent workers in dangerous situations. Accidents and injuries are common for these jobs. Any injury incurred while working for a company under a contract with the United States will most likely be covered by the Defense Base Act. Injured workers under the Defense Base Act are eligible to receive compensation and medical care and often can receive large cash settlements. We have represented more than 100 injured workers from Kosovo, Macedonia and/or the Balkans. We can handle your case by email and telephone. Our staff is well equipped to go to work for you no matter where you live.
At the Law Offices of Gillis, Mermell & Pacheco, P.A., our qualified Defense Base Act lawyers have a combination of over 43 years of experience in representing injured workers covered by the Defense Base Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Let us put our years of experience and our reputation to work for you today! Contact us today at mail@gmpcomplaw.com, or go on our website at www.dbalawyers.com and fill out our form on the contact us page, or call us at 305 595 3350.
Our experenced Defense Base Act Lawyers are here to help you with any questions you have regarding your DBA case. Here are some very interesting facts and case summaries regarding the statute of limitations in a DBA or Longshore case coming directly from the Judge’s Benchbook from the Office of Administrative Law Judges. Let our experienced Defense Base Act Attorneys answer your questions. The Judge’s Benchbook is a searchable website which is a public record. According to the Judge’s Benchbook:
If voluntary payments have been made, a claim may be filed within one year of the last payment. The time for filing a claim does not begin to run until the employer/claimant is aware, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been aware, of the relationship between the injury/death and the employment. See Spear v. General Dynamics Corp., 25 BRBS 254 (1991) (claimant’s date of awareness in 1980 cannot be utilized as his date of awareness of his increased hearing loss as evidenced by the 1986 audiogram); Spear v. General Dynamics Corp., 25 BRBS 132 (1991) (claim not barred under Section 13 where employer which had actual knowledge of injury did not file a first report of injury until five months after claimant filed for benefits under the LHWCA); Madrid v. Coast Marine Constr. Co., 22 BRBS 148 (1989) (claimant’s failure to take any further action during the three years following his timely modification request did not constitute an abandonment of the modification claim; since claimant filed no written request with the deputy commissioner to withdraw his claim and the claim was never adjudicated, it remained open and pending).
If you are injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and covered by the Defense Base Act, don’t let a year go by without consulting with a lawyer that handles these cases. You could jeopordize your right to compensation and medical care.
If you are a contractor who has been injured on the job while working overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Syria or on any military base across the world, your case is covered by the Defense Base Act. If you have a question about the statute of limitations or any other question in your DBA case, contact our qualified defense base act attorneys today at mail@gmpcomplaw.com, or go on our website at www.dbalawyers.com and fill out our form on the contact us page, or call us at 305 595 3350.
Clifford R. Mermell, Esq., created the law firm of Gillis, Mermell & Pacheco, P.A. on March 1, 1996. Mr. Mermell has been the senior and managing partner of the firm since its creation. The firm was created to champion the rights of injured workers nationwide. It represents cases under the Worker’s Compensation, Wrongful Termination, Personal Injury, Admiralty and Maritime, Defense Base Act, and Longshore & Harbor Worker’s Compensation Act Laws.