6 ‘SETTLEMENT FOR ACCIDENTS TO AMERICAN SEAMEN

In the 80 cases settled by agreement between a claim adjuster and
an attorney acting for the seaman the average gross amount actually
paid per case was $507.40, while the estimated recovery under the
longshoremen’s act would be $497.90, or 98.1 per cent of the former
amount.
In the 182 cases settled by compromise between the attorneys of the
two parties after legal action to recover damages for injury had been
commenced, the settlements shown include the legal fees. The settlements
 in these cases averaged $1,169.29, while the probable settlement
 under the act would have been $844.01, or 72.2 per cent of the
actual settlement.
The majority of the 34 cases prosecuted to judgment were tried
before a jury, but in a few instances the trial by jury was waived and
the settlement was the result of the court’s judgment. The average
actual gross settlement in these 34 cases was $4,012.89, while the
probable settlement under adaptation of the act would have been
$1,458.69. In 1 of these cases the verdict was for $34,000; in 8 cases
the verdicts ranged from $7,500 to $14,700; in 1 case the verdict
was for $5,000; and in 15 the verdict ranged from $130 to $2,500. In
9 cases the court’s decision was adverse to the seaman, although in
each case there was actual disability arising “out of and in course of
the employment,” and settlement with the seaman to the extent of
wages and maintenance would have been made had he chosen to keep
his case out of court. In four of the nine cases the seaman began
legal action because he thought the ship could be proved liable, but in
each case he failed to prove liability and the case was dismissed. In
three cases action was started, but when the case came to trial the
plaintiff failed to appear and the case was dismissed. In one the seaman
 sued the wrong party, and in the ninth case the statute of limitations
 barred the seaman from proceeding with his case. The high
verdicts first mentioned were what might be termed ‘sympathy
verdicts.”
The reason for the differences in the ratios between the estimated
settlement and the average length of the disability shown for the
three groups of cases in which legal fees were involved is the difference
in the nature of the cases included in the different groups. The
ratios are, respectively, an estimated settlement of $497.40, based on
86.5 days’ average diasbility; $844.01, based on 86 days’ average
disability; and $1,458.69, based on 144.9 days’ average disability.
One per cent of the cases closed by settlement with the attorney, 6
per cent of the cases settled by compromise, and 12 per cent of the
cases settled by jury or judge were dismemberments or amputations.
For such permanent partial disabilities the longshoremen’s law provides
 a schedule specifying the number of weeks’ compensation to be
paid and this schedule raises the basic period for which compensation
 was computed far above the actual period of disability.
All cases studied —The average settlement for all cases studied was
$523.69. Assuming that legal fees in the 296 cases in which an attorney
 was engaged averaged as low as 40 per cent of the settlement in
each case, and basing a grand average for all cases on this assumption,
the actual net recovery by the seaman in each case would have averaged
 $393.19. This average is $75.42, or 16.1 per cent less than the
amount ($468.61) which would probably have been recovered under
the longshoremen’s act. as adapted. If the legal fee in the 296 cases