I was Injured in New Mexico’s Oil Fields: What Damages are Available?

Working in the oilfields in Hobbs, New Mexico requires workers to expose themselves to risks every day. Heavy machinery, intense manual labor, and potentially hazardous work environments set the stage for possible workplace injuries that can be life-altering.

If you’ve experienced the dangers of working in the oilfields firsthand and have suffered a workplace injury, you should contact a Hobbs, New Mexico oilfield injury lawyer right away. Hobbs attorney James Shaw has handled countless oilfield accident cases like yours and has the experience needed to help you win your case. Mr. Shaw leads his law firm, Carabin Shaw, with a “client first” philosophy which has helped grow the company into one of the largest personal injury law firms in Texas.

Recovering oilfield accident damages after a workplace injury is vitally important because accidents can leave you with injuries that lead to expensive medical bills, lost wages, and other forms of economic hardship that need to be compensated for. If you’ve been injured in New Mexico’s oilfields, make sure that you file a report with your supervisor immediately and do not sign any documentation without first consulting a lawyer. Signing something without the advice of an attorney could forfeit your ability to file a claim.

When you do hire an attorney and file an injury claim, there will be three categories of damages available to pursue, economic, non-economic, and punitive which are explained below.

Economic damages are calculable and measurable damages that typically have an easily assignable monetary value. After an accident, it is critical that you and your lawyer seek to recover economic damages, or else you risk taking on financial debts in addition to your injuries.

The damages listed below are some of the most common and represent the types of damages you can seek to recover after an oilfield workplace injury.

• Medical Expenses
• Lost Wages
• Reduced Earnings Potential
• Pain and Suffering
• Disability
• Physical Therapy

Non-economic damages are not as easily measured because they do not have a direct assignable value like economic damages do because non-economic damages focus on the emotional and psychological aspects of an accident. Being injured in New Mexico’s oil fields can have lasting psychological and emotional impacts, especially in cases of serious injury, so non-economic damages are critical to your settlement and often outweigh the standard economic damages.

Here are some common examples of non-economic damages:

• Pain and Suffering
• Emotional Anguish
• Scarring and Disfigurement
• Loss of Quality of Life

Punitive damages are damages that are meant to punish negligent people or companies for reckless actions that endanger others. In New Mexico, there is no cap to how high these punitive damages can go.

If your company acted in a malicious, negligent, or reckless way that caused your accident, punitive damages could be the most important form of oilfield accident damages that you pursue. If you believe your company’s negligent actions caused your injuries, consult an experienced Hobbs, New Mexico oilfield injury lawyer to get the compensation you deserve.

Each oilfield accident case is unique and requires the expertise of a seasoned personal injury lawyer. Without a lawyer on your side, you run the risk of making a mistake and jeopardizing your ability to file a claim and recover the damages you will need in the wake of an accident.

Having a professional like Hobbs attorney James Shaw on your side can make all of the difference when pursuing your settlement. Mr. Shaw has been leading one of Texas’s largest personal injury law firms for 28 years and understands how to make negligent oil companies pay for their recklessness.