Offshore Injury Help
1. What a track record really means
Knowing how to check a maritime lawyer's track record comes down to four public sources: a valid license with no troubling discipline, real cases in the courts that hear maritime claims, certification that an approved body actually granted, and results claims read in context.
Every firm that advertises to injured maritime workers says roughly the same things. Aggressive. Experienced. Fighting for you. None of that is checkable, and none of it tells you whether the firm has handled a case like yours. Knowing how to check a maritime lawyer's track record means knowing which public records exist and what they can and cannot tell you.
- Licensure and standing: is the lawyer admitted, active, and free of serious public discipline?
- Actual case history: do they appear in the dockets of courts that hear maritime claims?
- Verified credentials: is a certification claim backed by an approved certifying organization?
- Independent signals: what do peers, former clients, and published decisions suggest?
Marketing is a claim. A track record is evidence. Almost all of the evidence you need is public.
Bottom line: A track record is what the public record shows, not what the advertising says. Four checkable sources tell you most of what matters.
2. Step one: verify the license
Every state bar publishes a free public attorney lookup showing admission date, current standing, and public discipline. Check it in every state where the lawyer claims to practice, before anything else.
This is the fastest and highest-value step in how to check a maritime lawyer's track record, and most people skip it. Search the state bar's attorney directory for the individual lawyer, not just the firm name, because firms often advertise in states where only some of their attorneys are admitted.
- Admission date, which tells you actual years in practice rather than years the firm has existed
- Current status, confirming the license is active and in good standing
- Public discipline, including the nature and date of any findings
- Every relevant state, since maritime work frequently crosses jurisdictions
Public discipline covers a wide range, from minor administrative lapses to serious misconduct. What matters is the nature, the recency, and whether there is a pattern. An old administrative issue is not the same as repeated findings involving client funds or neglected cases.
If a name does not appear at all in a state where the firm advertises, that is worth asking about directly. There is often an innocent explanation, such as local counsel arrangements, but you want to hear it. For the wider process, see how to vet a maritime injury attorney.
Bottom line: Look up the individual lawyer in every state where they claim to practice. Admission date, standing, and discipline are free and public.
3. Step two: search the court records
Under 28 U.S.C. Section 1333 the federal district courts have original jurisdiction over admiralty and maritime cases, but the same statute's saving to suitors clause preserves many claims for state court. Searching only one system misses half the record.
Here is where most advice on how to check a maritime lawyer's track record goes wrong. It tells you to search federal court records and stop there. That is half right, and the statute itself explains why.
28 U.S.C. Section 1333: Admiralty, maritime and prize cases
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of: (1) Any civil case of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled.
That closing phrase, the saving to suitors clause, preserves a plaintiff's right to pursue many maritime claims in state court instead. In practice a maritime injury firm's work is split across both systems, and some proceedings, such as suits against the vessel itself or shipowner limitation actions, are federal only.
- Federal dockets through the judiciary's public access system, searchable by attorney name
- State court records in the coastal or river jurisdictions where the firm practices
- What the filings show: case volume, case types, and whether matters were litigated or resolved early
- Published decisions, which show up in free case law databases and reveal contested litigation
Bottom line: Search federal and state dockets both. The saving to suitors clause is precisely why a federal-only search gives an incomplete picture.
4. Step three: test certification claims
Under the ABA Model Rules a lawyer may not state or imply that they are certified or board certified unless an organization approved by an appropriate state authority, or accredited by the ABA, granted the certification. The certifying organization must be named.
This is the single most useful test on this page, because it converts a vague impression into a yes or no question. If a firm advertises that its attorneys are board certified, the rules require that the claim be real and that the certifying body be identified.
Ask which organization granted the certification, and confirm that body is approved by a state authority or accredited by the American Bar Association. A certification claim with no named certifying organization does not meet the standard the rules set.
ABA Model Rule 7.2(c): Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services
A lawyer shall not state or imply that a lawyer is certified as a specialist in a particular field of law, unless: (1) the lawyer has been certified as a specialist by an organization that has been approved by an appropriate authority of the state or the District of Columbia or a U.S. Territory or that has been accredited by the American Bar Association; and (2) the name of the certifying organization is clearly identified in the communication.
There is a related distinction worth understanding. A lawyer may generally say they specialize in or concentrate in maritime work based on experience or training, and that statement is measured against the general prohibition on false or misleading communications. Certified is the stricter claim with the formal gatekeeper. Both can be accurate, but they are not equivalent, and the difference between a genuine specialist and a general practice firm is explored in a maritime specialist versus a general personal injury firm.
The text above is the ABA model, which each state adapts. Some states number the rule differently, some have no Rule 7.2 at all, and a few permit certification by a private organization provided the communication discloses that its standards are not regulated by a state authority or the ABA. The constant across versions is that the certifying organization must be identified, so the question of who certified them works everywhere.
Bottom line: Certified requires an approved certifying body that must be named. Specializing is a looser claim judged against the false and misleading standard.
