**Prospective clients may not obtain similar results. Amounts stated below are before deductions for fees, cost of attorneys and third party providers such as medical providers.**
Trying foreign cases in U.S. courts
The Haggard Law Firm often represents people seriously injured in foreign locales. The firm handles many of those cases in United States courts. Our clients have included:
- Cruise ship passengers
- Air crash victims
- Travelers injured at overseas resorts
- Foreign nationals injured in the United States
- Our clients have included both foreign and U.S. nationals overseas.
Why U.S. courts? Unlike most other nations - including English-speaking countries - United States federal and state courts operate on the contingency fee and jury system. This means that if you or a loved one are injured, you can recover damages for wrongdoing at no legal cost to yourself.
If you prevail, you can receive damages in dollars. If you lose, the law firm representing you pays all the costs. The law firm collects an agreed-upon fee, usually about one third of the award. You receive the rest. This is known as the contingency fee system.
The system is common to all 50 states in the United States, with wide variations, and to federal court. It has been called the "poor man's courthouse."
Moving such cases to U.S. courts is challenging, and there is no guarantee of success. Corporations - however negligent - have often succeeded in keeping cases in less consumer-friendly courts overseas under the doctrine of "forum non conveniens" (loosely translated, "inconvenient forum") in the interest of fairness to the defendant.
The Haggard Law Firm has found that such cases can be successfully resolved in U.S. courts. For that, there must be a United States connection. Often that connection appears through the network of suppliers, marketers, or administrators who can include manufacturers, tour operators, travel agents, wholesalers, air carriers, cruise ship and tour companies or other entities.
Our firm's position of leadership in the global community through the International Academy of Trial Lawyers has strengthened our bonds with lawyers around the world and gives us a competitive edge in dealing with complex issues in multiple jurisdictions.