Referring your FELA case to Poolson Oden is not “handing it off and hoping for the best.” It is deliberately choosing a trial team that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, your client, and your client’s family from the first call through verdict or settlement—and that will protect and strengthen your relationship with that client throughout the process.
Why Referring Attorneys Choose Poolson Oden
I’ve worked with Danny and Carisa on several cases over the past few years. If you ever find yourself in the trenches of a legal battle, Danny and Carisa are the lawyers you want by your side. They will fight tirelessly to make sure your voice is heard and you receive the full measure of justice you deserve. If you need an injury lawyer, look no further than Danny Poolson and Carisa Oden— excellent lawyers who listen and genuinely care about their clients! – Allen Ritchie
Poolson Oden is not a general personal injury mill that occasionally dabbles in FELA; it is a serious injury and railroadfocused trial firm that has recovered more than $30 million in the last five (5) years alone while serving union railroaders and their families.
We are designated legal counsel for SMARTTD and TCU, and we regularly represent BLET members as longstanding members of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys (ARLA), as well as members of the BRS and BMWED unions.
When you refer a FELA case to us, you are plugging your client into:
- A firm with over 80 years of combined legal experience handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.
- A track record of seven multimillion-dollar results in railroad, burn, explosion, maritime, and serious personal injury matters.
- A culture that treats clients—and referring lawyers—as true team members, not inventory.
You keep your client. You keep your relationship. We bring the law, the facts, and the medicine together to maximize the result.
Our Commitment To Your Client (And To You)
Our promise is simple and nonnegotiable: we know the law, we know the facts, and we know the medicine of each case, so we can obtain the maximum result for the injured worker and their family. That promise extends to you as referring counsel.
For every referred FELA case, we commit to:
- Protect the client’s medical rights by working closely with quality physicians and specialists, ensuring the necessary treatment and testing are obtained and documented.
- Safeguard the client’s financial security, with a laser focus on lifetime wage loss, fringe benefits, and the real economic impact of railroad injuries on households.
- Preserve and respect your relationship with the client by making you part of the strategy conversations and keeping you as involved as you want to be.
We do not “take” your client; we team up around your client. You brought them in; we will never forget that. Our goal is to send your client back to you after the case is resolved with more trust in you, not less.
I am a local New Orleans attorney and have worked with many trial lawyers. Next time we need co–counsel, we want Poolson Oden on our team. – Casey Cowley
Standing With Union Railroad Families
The FELA is different. It is not a standard workers’ compensation claim, and railroad workers live in a world of union contracts, craftspecific job demands, railroad culture, and federal safety laws that most personal injury firms simply do not understand. We do.
Poolson Oden proudly serves as Unionapproved Designated Legal Counsel for SMARTTD and TCU in FELA and FRSA matters, and we continue to represent BLET members as ARLA attorneys after the BLET’s DLC program ended. That means we understand:
- The daytoday realities of conductors, engineers, carmen, and signal maintainers.
- How railroad management and claims departments move quickly to control evidence and steer medical care.
- The unique family pressures that come with railroad injuries and retaliation threats.
When you send a FELA case to us, your client will not spend half the initial consultation explaining how the railroad works. We already know. That familiarity builds immediate trust with the client while reflecting well on you for choosing counsel who speak their language.
Maximizing Case Value: Law, Facts, and Medicine
FELA cases are won or lost on the details: the interplay of federal law, railroad safety rules, causation standards, and medical proof of permanent harm. Our job—on every referred case—is to master all three dimensions and drive value in ways that generalists miss.
Here is how we approach it:
- Law: We apply FELA’s relaxed causation standard and railroadspecific safety rules to frame liability aggressively, including systemic violations, patternandpractice evidence, and safety culture failures.
- Facts: We develop the story from the ground up, working with coworkers, union reps, supervisors, and industry experts to demonstrate what the railroad knew or should have known.
- Medicine: We work directly with treating physicians, specialists, and when needed, independent experts to build a clear, credible picture of injury, permanent impairment, and future limitations.
This triad—law, facts, medicine—is the backbone of our trial strategy and our settlement leverage. When you refer a case to Poolson Oden, you are not just sending it to “a good lawyer”; you are sending it into a system that is built specifically to uncover and present every ounce of value the case holds.
National Reach, Local Relationships
FELA is federal, and railroaders do not all live in New Orleans. We routinely handle serious injury and death cases arising from catastrophes in throughout the country, and we are prepared to partner with you on FELA matters nationwide.
What that means for you:
- We will collaborate on venue analysis, jurisdictional issues, and choice of law where appropriate.
- We will handle the heavy lifting—discovery, experts, depositions, trial preparation—while keeping you continuously informed and involved.
- We will be transparent about fee structures and referral arrangements, honoring ethical rules in your jurisdiction and ours.
You remain the lawyer who answered the phone when your client’s world fell apart; we become the trial team that carries the FELA litigation forward.
Protecting And Strengthening Your Client Relationship
Many referring lawyers hesitate to send out FELA cases because they are afraid of losing the client. That is a valid concern with firms that see referred clients as new marketing targets. We are not that firm.
Our entire team is trained to:
- Reinforce, from day one, that you are the client’s primary lawyer and trusted advisor.
- Copy you on meaningful communications and make sure you are never surprised by a development in the case.
- Invite you into strategy calls, mediation sessions, and key decision points if that is how you want to structure the relationship.
Client testimonials make it clear how we operate: our clients describe kindness, compassion, and being treated as family while we handle everything so they can focus on healing. That same respect extends to the lawyers who trust us with their clients.
When the case is over, we want your client thanking you for putting the right team on the field—not wondering who “their real lawyer” was.
Catastrophic Results, Human-Centered Approach
We know numbers matter to referring attorneys because they matter to clients. Over just the last five years, Poolson Oden has secured more than $30 million in results, including:
- A $5.75 million railroad burn death result for a conductor and a father who lost his life after a train collided with a gasoline truck.
- Multiple seven-figure recoveries in burn, explosion, maritime, and serious injury cases, including a $4 million burn death explosion result and multimillion recoveries for families devastated by catastrophic events.
But our value is not just measured in verdicts and settlements. It is measured in how we carry families through the aftermath of a disaster. Clients describe us as going “above and beyond,” making them feel like family, and helping them put their lives back together after life-threatening workplace accidents. That is exactly how we will treat the families you send to us.
Communication You Can Count On
Referring attorneys have zero tolerance for radio silence. You should not have to chase updates or wonder if your client is being ignored. Our practice is built around proactive, clear communication.
On every FELA referral, you can expect:
- Regular status updates at intervals we agree on from the outset.
- Immediate notice of major events: filings, motions, hearings, mediation, settlement offers, and trial dates.
- Candid assessments as the law, facts, and medicine evolve, including risk/benefit analysis for settlement and trial.
We respect that your name and reputation are on the line when you associate with us. Our communication will reflect that.
How To Refer A FELA Case To Poolson Oden
If you have a railroad worker client with a potential FELA claim, whether it is a catastrophic injury, a wrongful death, or a serious career-ending injury, call us as early as possible.
Early involvement allows us to:
- Move quickly to preserve evidence before the railroad closes ranks.
- Advise the client on critical early decisions, including statements, medical care, and interactions with claims and management.
- Begin building the lawfactsmedicine foundation that ultimately drives the case value.
We are happy to discuss a case informally, confidentially, and at no cost, even if you are not yet sure it is a FELA matter or whether you want to refer it out.
Together, we can evaluate whether federal law, railroad involvement, and the client’s work history place the claim under FELA and how best to proceed.
If you are serious about doing right by your injured railroad client and their family, and serious about maximizing the value of their case under the law, facts, and medicine, then you need a firm that lives and breathes the FELA, not one that reads about it.
Poolson Oden stands with our clients, our team, and our referring attorneys nationwide to protect families and deliver results.