This page is focused on providing you with relevant information on what to do if you are suffering from a railroad injury or diseases and the applicable FELA law.

Virginia (VA) Railroad Accident/FELA Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC

You're probably here because you or a loved one was seriously injured by a railroad's negligence. We are here to help. This page is a resource and help you in your time of need, and this includes not only accidents, but with regard to occupational disease claims, including railroad asbestos claims and mesothelioma cancer claims. Below are some frequently asked questions with answers supplied by experienced FELA attorneys in Virginia:

How does the Federal Employers' Liability Act (i.e. FELA) work?

How is the FELA different from workers' compensation?

What types of damages can be recovered under the FELA?

Additional railroad worker injury FAQs

After you've had a chance to review this page, please take a moment to review our in-depth library articles on railroad injuries and FELA claims and take a moment to look at the case results we obtained for railroad injury/FELA clients.

Our law firm also publishes information on a site dedicated exclusively to railroad accident and FELA law.

If you're curious to know what types of cases we've handled, our lawyers are seasoned in these, and many other facets of railroad injury law:

Railroad worker injuries
Railroad crossing crashes
Occupational disorders
Diseases such as lung, hearing or repetitive stress injuries
Asbestos and mesothelioma
Train/railroad derailments and wrecks
Amtrak passenger train injuries
Railroad toxic chemical spills
Wrongful death

It has been our privilege to represent trainmen, brakeman/conductors, engineers, carmen, signalmen, machinists, maintenance-of-way-workers, victims of railroad derailments and crossing collisions, as well as their families and friends on railroad cases or even injury cases unrelated to the rail industry. As a result, our firm is well known to thousands of railroad workers and fellow injury attorneys throughout the eastern region of the United States as a highly qualified law firm in the area of railroad injury law.

Our railroad accident law firm has collected and indexed over 1,000 depositions in railroad and similar injury cases, hundreds of specific research files, as well as numerous railroad manuals and videos relating specifically to railroad safety and injury issues. Our attorneys have handled railroad injury litigation in nearly every eastern state in the USA. We've also written two in-depth, special reports on FELA rights for railroad workers and the secrets employed by railroad claim agents.

Richard Shapiro, one of our attorneys, is the co-author of “Railroad Health & Safety- A Litigator’s Guide,” one of leading treatises on railroad injury law, found in the nation’s law libraries (72 Am. Jur. Trials 1) and Richard has been named to the "Best Lawyers In America" 2010 publication (Railroad Law). Also, Rick served as an officer and Chair of the American Association for Justice Railroad Section, a group of some of the nation’s best FELA and railroad crossing accident attorneys. Randy Appleton has over 25 years of railroad injury litigation experience, including trials in numerous states.

Our staff includes attorneys that have been selected by the BLET and by the TCU/TCIU as designated legal counsel, and our lawyer's are well known authorities in the field of railroad FELA and railroad crossing law.

We have a team of investigators who provide valuable assistance in our clients' railroad injury, derailment and crossing cases. They bring years of rail experience to the table. All of our investigators were previously employed in the railroad industry, and as a result, they know how to find crucial information and key witnesses in a railroad cases. Our legal investigators worked for decades as conductors and engineers in NS and CSXT so they are able to relate with our railroad clients and understand the specialized workings of the rail industry.

We are committed to railroad workers and this includes a charitable commitment: we donate a percentage of every railroad worker injury case settlement to a worthy charity called the Fallen Brother Fund-which provides monetary assistance to the family of any railroader killed on the job

Click on the icon to donate or go to www.yardlimits.com.

Our firm has also been proud to help families harmed by railroad companies' neglect and wrongdoing at grade crossings in Virginia, and beyond. If your loved one, father, mother,son, daughter, husband,or wife has been killed in a car or truck hit by a train, you should talk to us to hold the railroad responsible for bad corporate decisions to skimp on safety for motorists crossing the tracks.

Often, our investigation shows that the business which owns the rail right of way fails to clear the brush or sight obstructions to avoid collisions and the serious damage they cause. Many times the signs are not kept up, the train whistles are not used as required or the surface of the road poses a danger. Tragically, when pedestrians die on the tracks it is frequently a child who does not fully realize the risks of a train trestle or rail yard and the company has done nothing to try and prevent a disaster while knowing kids and others often walk the tracks.

Rail crossings are a huge safety problem in the city and out in the country, on private drives and public crossings, when used hourly by big freight carriers and traversed only daily by short line railways. If a serious injury happens, call us at 1-800-752-0042 to see if we can help explain your rights and try to get a maximum recovery for you from the at-fault parties and their insurance companies.

Our clients who work for the railroad and got hurt on the job have been injured in, or lived in, nearly every railroad community in Virginia including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Newport News, Crewe, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Clifton, Forge, Covington, Charlottesville, Front Royal and Lynchburg. We regularly help railroaders and persons hurt in accidents involving trains in Washington, D.C. and throughout West Virginia in communities like Wheeling, Beckley, Bluefield, Huntington, Hinton, and Charleston. Our railroad attorneys specialize in lawsuits against Amtrak, Norfolk Southern (NS), and CSXT.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have handled hundreds of Federal Employers' Liability Act claims for railroad workers hurt or made ill while doing their rail jobs. We also have represented many people injured in train accidents. Please take a few moments to review our railroad injury case results. Our primary offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill. Our attorneys have even been included in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009.

We would like to send you one of our free reports about railroad injury and FELA cases, including Dos & Don'ts When Injured at a Railroad: Your FELA Rights and What Railroad Claim Agents Agents Won't Tell You (But You Must Know).

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer a free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.