Defense Base Act Lawyer: DBA Claims Nationwide

Defense Base Act Attorneys Helping Injured Overseas Contractors

Coming home hurt from an overseas contract is isolating. The job is far away, the paperwork is federal, and nobody around you has been through it. You are not alone. We have guided contractors through this for years, and we can guide you.

If you were hurt while working overseas on a U.S. government contract, the Defense Base Act (DBA) may entitle you to federal benefits: medical care, a share of your lost wages, and help if you cannot go back to the same work. It covers civilians like translators, security staff, drivers, and construction and logistics workers, even when the injury happened off base. The attorneys at Templer & Hirsch handle Defense Base Act claims for injured workers all over the world.

In our experience, the carriers behind these claims look for any reason to pay less or deny you outright. We know how to build a claim they take seriously, and we guide you through every step so nothing slips through the cracks. Call us for a free consultation and we will tell you where you stand.

Why You Need a Defense Base Act Lawyer

Insurance companies often lowball, delay, or flat-out deny valid DBA claims. Templer & Hirsch's Defense Base Act lawyers make sure you are not left fighting them alone.

We handle:

• Denied claims and low settlement offers
• Complex psychological injury cases (e.g., PTSD, anxiety, depression)
• All paperwork and deadlines
• Direct negotiations with insurers
• Appeals before the Department of Labor

Learn more about our mission and experience on our Firm Overview.

Common Injuries Covered Under the Defense Base Act

Whether you suffered an injury in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere in the world, we can help. Our clients include logistics workers, translators, truck drivers, and private security personnel injured by:

• IEDs and combat trauma
• Equipment accidents
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Psychological trauma and PTSD (Learn more about our Defense Base Act PTSD Lawyers here.)
• Environmental hazards (burn pits, toxic exposure)

Not Sure What Your DBA Claim Is Worth?

Use our quick DBA Settlement Calculator to estimate your weekly compensation based on your wages, injury severity, and disability status.

Filing a DBA Claim: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Filing correctly is essential. Our detailed guide will help you get started:

Filing a Claim Under the Defense Base Act – A Step-by-Step Guide

Key steps include:

• Notifying your employer
• Filing Form LS-203
• Gathering medical and wage documentation
• Responding to insurance objections

You don't have to do this alone; our lawyers are here to guide you.

Defense Base Act Representation for Civilian Contractors Worldwide

We represent injured workers from:

• Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria
• Kuwait, Qatar, UAE
• Africa (e.g., Djibouti, Somalia)
• Asia and Europe

Wherever your injury happened, Templer & Hirsch can help. Reach out for a free consultation and we will get to work on your claim right away.

Related Resources for Overseas Contractors

• U.S. Department of State – Contractor Guidelines
• Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

These resources provide important context around contractor rights and federal contracting standards.

Ready to take the first step? Contact us today for a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do I have to be injured on a military base to qualify for DBA?
No. The DBA applies to any qualifying contract overseas, even if the injury occurred off base.

Can I file a claim while still overseas?
Yes. We handle DBA claims remotely and file everything on your behalf.

What if my claim was denied?
We'll appeal your case, represent you at hearings, and fight to reverse unfair denials.

Speak With a Defense Base Act Attorney Today

Templer & Hirsch has helped hundreds of civilian contractors receive fair compensation after serious injuries. You don't pay us unless we win.

• Free Case Evaluation
• No Upfront Fees
• We Handle All DBA Claims Worldwide

Let us help you fight back. Call us at 305-937-2700 or message us here for a free consultation.

The Defense Base Act: What Overseas Contractors Should Know

The Defense Base Act gives federal workers’ compensation to civilians working for US military operations overseas. The benefits are real and can be substantial, but the process has strict rules and deadlines, and insurance carriers fight these claims hard.

Who Is Covered

Under 42 U.S.C. §1651, the DBA covers civilians working on US military bases overseas, contractors supporting US government contracts abroad, and employees of public-works projects funded by the US government overseas. That includes translators, security personnel, construction workers, logistics, and IT staff, in war zones and peacetime alike.

30-Day Notice and One-Year Filing Deadline

You must give written notice to your employer within 30 days of the injury, and file a formal claim with the US Department of Labor within one year (two years for occupational diseases like PTSD or hearing loss). The deadlines can be tolled if you didn’t immediately know an injury was work-related, and an attorney can preserve your timeline.

DBA Benefits Mirror LHWCA

The DBA incorporates the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, so the benefit structure is similar: uncapped medical care, two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to the federal maximum, permanent impairment compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and death benefits including survivor compensation.

PTSD, TBI, and Psychological Injuries

The DBA fully recognizes psychological injuries arising from overseas service: PTSD, anxiety, depression, and traumatic brain injury. Insurance carriers fight these claims hardest, so strong medical documentation and expert support are essential. We’ve handled DBA claims since the early years of the post-9/11 contracting wave.

Third-Party Claims

The DBA is the exclusive remedy against your direct employer, but third-party negligence claims (against subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, or other employers on the same site) may be pursued in parallel for full personal injury damages.

Common Defense Base Act Injuries We Handle

DBA claims arise wherever US contractors operate overseas. We’ve represented civilian contractors injured by:

• IEDs, mortar attacks, and combat-related blasts: common during the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments and ongoing in active theaters.
• Vehicle accidents: convoys, transport, off-road operations, and roadside attacks.
• Falls from heights at construction sites, base infrastructure, and rooftops.
• Equipment and machinery accidents: generators, vehicles, heavy equipment.
• PTSD and traumatic brain injury from sustained exposure to combat and post-traumatic events.
• Hearing loss and respiratory illness from explosions, gunfire, burn pits, and dust.
• Heatstroke and other environmental injuries in desert deployments.
• Sexual assault and harassment: covered under the DBA when arising from employment.

Each claim type has its own evidence requirements and medical support; we know how to build the record DBA carriers actually take seriously.

Burn Pit and Toxic Exposure Claims

Base camps across Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Kuwait and the Horn of Africa burned waste in open pits for years. Contractors who lived and worked beside them breathed the smoke daily. The illnesses that follow show up late: asthma, chronic bronchitis, constrictive bronchiolitis, sinus disease, and in some cases rare cancers. Late onset is the whole problem with these claims. A carrier will argue the condition came from smoking, from allergies, or from anything other than the deployment. Because a burn pit illness is an occupational disease rather than a single accident, the filing clock works differently, and it usually starts when you knew or should have known the illness was tied to your work. If you served near a burn pit and now have a breathing problem, the claim is worth reviewing even if you came home years ago. Our full guide to burn pit compensation for contractors covers why the PACT Act does not reach you and what the Defense Base Act pays instead.

Wondering what representation costs on one of these claims? In some situations the insurance carrier can be ordered to pay an approved fee on top of your benefits, and we walk through when that happens in who pays attorney fees in a Defense Base Act claim.

Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

Hearing loss is one of the most common contractor injuries and one of the most often skipped. Gunfire, generators, flight lines, mortar impacts and heavy equipment do damage that builds slowly, so most people never report it while deployed. Under the DBA, hearing loss is treated as a scheduled award, which means the payment is set by a formula based on measured impairment rather than by how much work you lost. That formula makes the audiogram the single most important document in the claim. A baseline test from before deployment, if one exists, strengthens the case a great deal. Tinnitus, the constant ringing that many contractors live with, is often claimed alongside the hearing loss.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Blast exposure causes brain injuries that no scan may pick up. A contractor near an IED or repeated mortar impacts can walk away with no visible wound and then struggle for years with memory, sleep, headaches, balance and temper. Carriers lean on the normal imaging to argue nothing happened. Building a TBI claim means neuropsychological testing, treatment records that run continuously, and statements from the people who knew you before and after. TBI and PTSD also overlap heavily, and the two are frequently claimed together. Our Defense Base Act PTSD lawyers handle both sides of that overlap.

Denied Defense Base Act Claim: What Happens Next

A denial letter is not the end of the claim. It is the point where the case moves from a paperwork process into a legal one, and most contractors who give up do it here. Denials commonly rest on one of four arguments: the injury was not work-related, the condition existed before the deployment, the notice or filing was late, or the medical evidence does not support the disability being claimed. Each of those is contestable.

The dispute process runs in stages, and every stage has a deadline:

• Informal conference. A claims examiner at the Department of Labor brings both sides together and issues a written recommendation. The recommendation carries weight but neither side has to accept it.
• Request for a formal hearing. If the conference does not resolve it, either side files Form LS-18 and the case is referred to the Office of Administrative Law Judges.
• Hearing before an administrative law judge. This is a real evidentiary hearing with testimony, medical experts and cross-examination. The judge issues a written decision and order.
• Benefits Review Board. A compensation order becomes final 30 days after it is filed, so an appeal to the Board has to be filed inside that window (33 U.S.C. §921(a)).
• Federal court. A party still unhappy after the Board can seek review in federal court, with 60 days to file the petition (33 U.S.C. §921(c)).

The 30-day appeal window is the one that ends cases. Miss it and a wrong decision becomes permanent. If you have a denial letter or a decision you disagree with, the date on that letter matters more than anything else in the file, so call before the clock runs out.

For the reasons carriers give most often, see 6 reasons your DBA claim might be denied.

Claims Involving Major Overseas Contractors

Most people searching for help start with the name on their badge rather than the name of the law. We handle Defense Base Act claims for workers employed by the large government contractors and their subcontractors, including KBR, Halliburton, DynCorp International, Fluor, Amentum, Vectrus and V2X, PAE, CACI, L3Harris, Constellis, Triple Canopy, Sallyport and Global Linguist Solutions, along with the smaller staffing firms and local subcontractors that hire through them.

Who signed your paycheck matters less than it feels like it should. DBA coverage follows the contract, not the company, so subcontractors and second-tier staffing firms are covered on the same terms as the prime contractor. What the employer name does tell us is which insurance carrier is on the file. DBA coverage is written by a small group of insurers and third-party administrators, and each one has patterns: which injuries they dispute, how they calculate average weekly wage, how fast they move to settle. Knowing the carrier before the first filing changes how we build the claim.

Wage disputes are where the employer name shows up most. Overseas contractor pay is built from a base wage plus uplifts: hazard pay, hardship differential, per diem, overtime and completion bonuses. Carriers routinely calculate the average weekly wage on the base figure alone. That single choice can cut a compensation rate by half, and it is one of the most winnable arguments in a DBA claim.

Defense Base Act Help by State

We take Defense Base Act claims from anywhere in the country, and the case is federal wherever you live. These pages cover the states that send the most civilians overseas, including which employers hire there, which bases feed the pipeline, and how the state workers’ compensation system interacts with a federal claim.

• Texas Defense Base Act Lawyer: Houston contractor hiring, Fort Hood, Fort Bliss and Joint Base San Antonio
• Virginia Defense Base Act Lawyer: Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia
• North Carolina Defense Base Act Lawyer: Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point
• Georgia Defense Base Act Lawyer: Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon and the Port of Savannah
• California Defense Base Act Lawyer: San Diego, and the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex

Meet the Attorneys Who Will Handle Your Case

Templer & Hirsch has represented injured workers and contractors for over 35 years and recovered more than $100 million for clients. When you call, you talk to an attorney, not a case manager.

• David L. Templer: Founding partner with decades of trial experience handling Defense Base Act, longshore, and complex injury cases.
• Mark Hirsch: Partner concentrating on DBA, longshore, and serious injury claims; known for hands-on client communication.

Defense Base Act FAQs: Coverage, Deadlines, and Benefits

Who is covered by the Defense Base Act?

Civilian employees on US military bases overseas, US government contractors abroad, and certain public-works employees, including translators, security, construction, logistics, and IT staff. 42 U.S.C. §1651.

What injuries does the DBA cover?

Any injury or death arising out of overseas employment: IEDs, vehicle accidents, falls, equipment failures, plus psychological injuries like PTSD, anxiety, depression, and TBI.

How long do I have to file?

30 days written notice to your employer; one year to file the formal claim (two years for occupational diseases or PTSD). Tolling rules can extend the clock if you didn’t immediately know the injury was work-related.

What benefits does the DBA pay?

Uncapped medical care, two-thirds of average weekly wage up to the federal maximum, permanent impairment compensation, vocational rehab, and death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents.

Are PTSD and TBI covered?

Yes. Psychological injuries are recognized DBA injuries when linked to overseas employment. These claims often face the toughest carrier resistance, so strong medical documentation matters.

Can I sue the contractor or the US government?

The DBA is the exclusive remedy against your employer. Sovereign immunity usually bars suits against the US government. Third-party negligence claims against subcontractors, equipment makers, or other employers may still be available.