SETTLEMENT FOR ACCIDENTS TO AMERICAN SEAMEN 41
Methods of Settlement
[UNDER the present methods of settling claims for injuries the seaman
 may be compensated in each of the following manners:
Ll. He may be paid wages through the period of his disability not
exceeding the remainder of the voyage during which the injury was
received.
2. He is customarily paid a sum as maintenance at a specified rate
per day or week through that portion of his disability during which
he may be forced to pay for food and quarters, i. e., during outpatient
 hospital treatment and convalescence.
3. If he is entitled to an additional amount as indemnity, it is
secured either through agreement with the claim adjuster of the
shipping company or of the underwriter, or by direct litigation.
Generally there is a difference in the policy of steamship companies
in settling the claims of their licensed officers as compared with the
unlicensed personnel. Some continue the wages of the officer
throughout his period of disability even though he is entitled to wages
only to the end of the voyage. Others pay their officers wages only
to the end of the voyage and pay in addition a liberal amount as
indemnity, while still others give no special consideration, except
that the rate paid for maintenance is usually somewhat higher than
for the unlicensed seamen.
In many cases an attorney negotiates the settlement for the seaman
even though it is made by agreement and is never taken into the
courts. An interesting sidelicht on this phase of settlements is a
practice which the bureau found operating in the following manner:
The arrival of an injured seaman in the port of New York, especially
if he stops at the places frequented by seamen instead of the hospital,
kindles a spontaneous desire on the part of his friends, and seamen in
general, to help him—usually in the way of free advice. A novel
method of capitalizing on this practice has been developed by a few
seamen who have been injured and are experienced in the methods
used by certain agencies in making settlements. One of these seamen
 makes a bargain with the injured man to show him for a stipulated
fee how he can realize a cash settlement immediately. The injured
man is then escorted to the proper claim adjuster for the purpose of
making an agreement and getting a settlement. If it is negotiated,
the “adviser” gets his fee from the seaman and the case is a closed
incident. No mformation could be obtained on the extent of this
practice nor the amounts of the fees charged except that the fee is
usually a nominal sum.
The business of soliciting clientele among injured seamen has
become well established not only among the so-called “sea lawyers”
but also among a certain class of admiralty lawyers who have built up
an organization by means of which they get injured seamen to sign
their retainer contract in almost any part of the world.
This practice is carried on usually through “runners,” seamen and
others, who have at all times a supply of blank retainers. In case of
accident they make it their business immediately to approach the
injured with promises of prompt action and a lucrative settlement.
The runner in turn usually receives a fee from the attorney for each
retainer contract which he may secure.
One example of the methods used may be cited in connection
with case No. 106 (in the ‘Personal-screement” tabulation). In