A railroad injury lawyer helps railroad workers hurt on the job, and families who lost a railroader, under the special federal law that governs these claims. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, our railroad injury attorneys prove the railroad's negligence and pursue the full compensation that federal law allows, which is far more than ordinary workers' compensation provides. Railroad work is dangerous, the injuries are serious, and the railroads fight hard. Our firm knows how to fight back.
Buffalo has been a railroad town for well over a century, home to major rail yards, freight lines, and thousands of the men and women who keep the trains running. When one of them is hurt, the case doesn't run under New York's workers' comp system at all. It runs under a federal law made just for railroaders, one that works very differently and rewards a firm that knows it. Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers do. This is one focus of our broader Buffalo personal injury practice, so the full weight of the firm is behind your case.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
FELA is the Federal Employers Liability Act, the federal law that covers railroad workers injured on the job. Instead of the no-fault workers' compensation system that covers most employees, a railroad worker brings a claim under FELA by showing the railroad's negligence played a part in the injury, and in return can recover full damages that workers' comp never provides.
This is the single most important thing to understand about a railroad injury. If you're a railroad employee, you are not covered by ordinary workers' comp, and you don't file a comp claim. You have a FELA claim against the railroad, and it can be worth far more than comp, but you have to prove the railroad was at fault. Our FELA lawyers know exactly how to do that.
Almost entirely, and mostly in the worker's favor. Workers' comp is no-fault but pays only limited benefits and nothing for pain and suffering. FELA requires proving the railroad's negligence, but in exchange it lets an injured railroader recover full damages, including pain and suffering, full lost wages and earning capacity, and more. The trade-off usually favors the worker, when the case is handled well.
The difference in value can be enormous. A comp claim caps what an injured worker receives; a FELA claim can recover the full measure of the harm. But that fuller recovery has to be earned by proving fault, which is exactly why railroads fight these claims so hard and why representation matters. Our railroad injury attorneys build the proof of negligence that unlocks a full FELA recovery.
Essentially every railroad employee. Engineers, conductors, brakemen, trackmen and maintenance-of-way crews, signalmen, mechanics, carmen, yard and switch crews, and other railroad workers are all covered by FELA for on-the-job injuries. If you work for a railroad engaged in interstate commerce and you're hurt on the job, your claim is a FELA claim.
That covers the full range of railroad jobs, from the crews out on the road to the workers in the yards and shops. Whatever your role, if you were injured doing railroad work, our railroad injury lawyers can pursue your FELA claim. The law was written to protect railroaders in every part of a dangerous industry.
That the railroad's negligence played some part in causing your injury, and the standard is favorable to the worker. Unlike an ordinary injury case, FELA only requires showing that the railroad's fault contributed, even slightly, to the harm. If the railroad's negligence played any part, it can be held responsible, which is a much easier standard than most injury claims face.
Railroad negligence can take many forms: unsafe equipment, inadequate training or staffing, unsafe work practices, poor track or workplace conditions, or a failure to provide a reasonably safe place to work. Our FELA lawyers investigate what the railroad did or failed to do, because under FELA's worker-friendly standard, establishing even a share of railroad fault opens the door to a full recovery.
Then the railroad may be automatically responsible. Federal railroad safety laws require that certain equipment, like couplers, brakes, and locomotives, be in safe and proper working condition. When a violation of one of these safety laws causes a worker's injury, the railroad can be held liable without the worker even having to prove negligence. A defect that violates these laws is often the strongest kind of FELA case.
This is a powerful feature of railroad injury law. If a coupler fails, a brake doesn't work, or a locomotive part is defective and you're hurt as a result, the railroad's responsibility can be essentially automatic. Our railroad injury attorneys look closely at the equipment involved in every case, because a safety-law violation can turn a hard-fought claim into a clear one.
Both sudden injuries and the kind that build up over years. Railroad work causes catastrophic single-event injuries and serious occupational conditions alike, and FELA covers both. Each can be the basis of a claim when the railroad's negligence or a safety violation played a part.
Our Buffalo railroad injury lawyers handle FELA cases involving:
Whatever the injury, our railroad injury attorneys connect it to the railroad's failure to provide a reasonably safe workplace.
Yes, and these cases are often overlooked. Years of railroad work can cause illnesses that develop slowly, like cancers from asbestos or diesel exhaust exposure, lung disease, and severe hearing loss. When a railroad failed to protect workers from a known hazard, an injured or ill railroader can bring a FELA claim even years later, once the condition surfaces.
Railroads have long known about many of these hazards, from asbestos in older equipment to the diesel exhaust and solvents workers breathed for decades. A cumulative injury or occupational disease is just as compensable under FELA as a single accident. Our railroad injury lawyers investigate a worker's exposure history and connect a later illness to the conditions the railroad allowed.
Fast and self-serving, so be careful. Railroads have claim agents who often reach an injured worker within hours, looking for a recorded statement, steering the story, and sometimes pressing for a quick, low settlement before the worker understands the claim. They may also put an injured worker under surveillance. None of this is done to help you.
This is one of the biggest dangers in a railroad injury case. An early statement or a rushed settlement can undercut a claim worth far more, and the claim agent works for the railroad, not for you. Before you give any statement or sign anything, talk to a lawyer. Our railroad injury attorneys deal with the railroad and its claim agents directly, so you don't have to face them alone.
Primarily the railroad, and sometimes others. FELA claims run against the railroad employer, but a railroad injury can also involve a third party outside the railroad, like the manufacturer of a defective piece of equipment, who may be separately responsible. Identifying every source of responsibility matters, especially in a catastrophic case.
While the FELA claim against the railroad is usually the heart of the case, a defective product or another company's negligence can add a separate claim for full damages. Our railroad injury lawyers investigate the whole picture, the railroad's conduct and any third party's role, because a serious injury demands every available avenue of recovery.
The full measure of your losses, which is what makes FELA so valuable. A FELA claim can recover your past and future medical expenses, your full lost wages and lost earning capacity, and compensation for pain, suffering, and permanent disability, far beyond what workers' comp would pay. In a fatal case, the family can recover as well.
This full recovery is the whole point of FELA, and it's why proving the railroad's negligence is worth the effort. Because railroad injuries are so often career-ending or permanent, the lost earning capacity alone can be substantial. Our railroad injury attorneys document the full lifetime impact of the injury with medical and economic experts, so the claim reflects everything the injury took.
It can reduce it, but it rarely bars it. FELA uses a comparative fault rule, so if the worker's own carelessness contributed to the injury, the recovery is reduced by that share, but the claim survives. And if the injury involved a violation of a federal safety law, the worker's own fault may not reduce the recovery at all.
Railroads often try to pin the blame on the injured worker to cut what they pay, but partial fault doesn't end a FELA claim, and in safety-violation cases it may not matter at all. Our railroad injury lawyers push back on the railroad's blame-shifting and make sure a worker's own conduct isn't used to wrongly wipe out a valid claim.
The family may have a FELA wrongful death claim. When a railroader is killed on the job because of the railroad's negligence or a safety violation, FELA allows the family to bring a claim for their loss, along with a claim for what their loved one suffered. These claims run under the same federal rules as an injury case.
Our wrongful death lawyer page explains how wrongful death claims work generally, and our railroad injury attorneys handle the FELA-specific rules that apply when a railroad worker is killed. We pursue these cases with the respect a fallen railroader and their family deserve.
Generally three years from the injury, or from when you discovered an occupational illness was work-related. FELA sets its own federal deadline, usually three years, and for a slowly developing condition like a cancer or hearing loss, the clock can run from when you knew or should have known the illness was connected to your railroad work. Missing the deadline can end the claim.
The discovery rule matters greatly in occupational cases, where a disease may not appear until years after the exposure. But the deadlines are firm, and the evidence, the equipment, the records, the witnesses, is best preserved early. Our railroad injury lawyers pin down the deadline that applies to your case and move quickly to protect it.
Report the injury, get medical care, and be careful before you speak. Report the injury to the railroad as required, but stick to the basic facts, and get prompt medical treatment. Be very cautious about giving a recorded statement to a claim agent or signing anything, and consider involving your union representative. Then talk to a railroad injury lawyer before the railroad shapes the case.
What you do in the first days can make or break a FELA claim, because the railroad's investigation starts immediately and its claim agents are trained to protect the railroad. Report what's required, document what you can, and get advice before saying more. Getting our railroad injury attorneys involved early lets us preserve the evidence and deal with the railroad on your behalf.
Our railroad injury lawyers move fast to preserve evidence and prove the railroad's fault. From the start, our attorneys investigate the cause of the injury, secure the equipment, maintenance, and incident records before they can change, and identify the railroad negligence or safety violation that supports your FELA claim.
Our railroad injury attorneys work with railroad, engineering, and medical experts to prove both fault and the full extent of your injuries, whether it's a single accident or an occupational illness built over years. Our team handles the railroad and its claim agents, documents the full lifetime impact of the injury, and prepares each case as if it's going to trial, because that's what a railroad respects. Most cases resolve through negotiation, but our FELA lawyers build every one for trial, and our firm keeps these matters in house from start to finish.
Our railroad injury lawyers represent injured railroaders and their families across Western New York, and our firm handles these cases the same way it handles every case, in house, start to finish, through settlement, trial, and appeal. Our attorneys understand FELA, the federal safety laws, and the railroad's tactics, and we know how to take on a railroad.
These cases reward a firm that knows the difference between FELA and workers' comp, isn't intimidated by a railroad's claim department and legal team, and understands what a career-ending injury really costs. That's what our railroad injury attorneys bring, along with straight answers in plain language, so you always know where your case stands. You spent your career keeping the trains running. Let our team fight for you.
If you're a railroad worker hurt on the job, or you lost a railroader you love, in Buffalo or Western New York, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. Contact us for a free consultation, and a Buffalo railroad injury lawyer will review what happened, explain your FELA rights, and lay out your options, with no fee unless we recover for you.
Don't wait, and don't let a claim agent talk you into a quick settlement before you know what your case is worth. The sooner our railroad injury lawyers start, the more our team can do to preserve the evidence, prove the railroad's fault, and protect the full recovery you and your family deserve. If your case involved a crossing crash, a passenger, or a member of the public rather than a railroad worker, our Buffalo train accident lawyer page covers that side.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Reading it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. FELA and railroad injury law is federal, complex, and can change; the principles described reflect the law as of 2026, and how they apply depends on your specific situation. Every case is different, and prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome. For advice about a specific injury, please consult a licensed attorney experienced in railroad injury law.
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