Colin Haviland

Focused on Representing Injured Railroad Workers

Colin Haviland is a partner and FELA Team Leader at McEldrew Purtell. His railroad practice focuses on representing employees injured on the job and pursuing claims under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA).

As the firm’s FELA Team Leader, Colin works on cases involving serious railroad injuries and allegations of unsafe working conditions, inadequate equipment, unsafe work methods, and other forms of railroad negligence.

His work focuses on understanding how an injury occurred, preserving and developing the evidence surrounding the incident, and documenting the effect the injury may have on a railroad worker’s health, career, earning capacity, and future.

Leading the Firm’s FELA Practice

Railroad injury cases require an understanding of both FELA and the realities of railroad work. The circumstances leading to an injury may involve the equipment provided to employees, the way a job was assigned, staffing, training, work practices, safety procedures, or hazards the railroad knew or should have known about.

Colin’s role as FELA Team Leader centers on these issues and on building cases that examine what happened before, during, and after a railroad worker’s injury.

When a railroad disputes responsibility or argues that an employee caused or contributed to an injury, the evidence developed early in the case can become particularly important. Witness accounts, photographs, records, work rules, equipment information, medical evidence, and documentation of the worker’s job duties may all play a role in establishing what occurred and the full impact of the injury.

FELA Case Experience

Colin has obtained significant results on behalf of injured railroad employees.

In one FELA case, Colin and attorney Daniel Purtell obtained a $700,000 settlement for a railroad worker who suffered serious injuries after his employer failed to provide proper equipment for the job. The worker had been directed to manually move an excavator bucket weighing more than 300 pounds.

The case illustrates an issue that arises repeatedly in railroad injury litigation: whether employees were provided with the equipment and working conditions necessary to perform an assigned task safely.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its specific facts and legal circumstances.

Trial Experience Applied to Railroad Cases

Colin is an experienced trial attorney who brings a litigation-focused approach to railroad injury claims. FELA cases can involve disputes over negligence, causation, the severity of an injury, an employee’s ability to return to railroad work, and the long-term financial consequences of an injury.

Developing those cases requires more than documenting the initial accident. It may require examining the railroad’s actions, the conditions under which employees were expected to work, and how those conditions contributed to the injury.

Colin approaches railroad cases with those issues in mind from the beginning, developing the evidence necessary to pursue the claim through settlement or litigation.

Commitment to Railroad Workers

A serious railroad injury can threaten more than a worker’s immediate health. It can affect the employee’s ability to remain in the same craft, perform physically demanding railroad work, maintain earnings, and support a family.

Colin’s work focuses on establishing the full extent of an injury’s consequences and pursuing accountability when railroad negligence contributes to the harm.

He is also a member of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys, an organization of attorneys who protect the rights of railroad employees.

Learn More About Colin Haviland

This page focuses specifically on Colin’s work representing railroad employees and his role leading McEldrew Purtell’s FELA practice.

For his complete professional background, education, bar admissions, broader litigation experience, professional memberships, recognition, and additional case results, view Colin Haviland’s full biography on the McEldrew Purtell website.