Longshoremen Accident Lawyer
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People who work at sea, on the docks or offshore are protected by federal laws that recognize the inherent dangers. When they are injured on the job, those workers are entitled to specific benefits and may be able to sue their employers for negligence and hazardous working conditions. The Texas Gulf Coast maritime accident attorneys at the Pascoe Law Firm help injured seamen and longshoremen assert their rights under the Jones Act and other remedies for medical care, lost income and disability compensation. Based in Galveston County, we can handled maritime injury claims from Texas. Longshoreman Accident Attorney helping seamen & longshoremen accidents, we service the Galveston, Houston, and throughout the Texas Gulf Coast.
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The Jones Act area of the law can be complex and employers often give seamen misleading information about their rights. You can call our law firm 24-hours a day at 713-829-4317 to arrange a free consultation with an experienced maritime law attorney. A seaman is any man or woman who works on a commercial vessel or whose duties including servicing those vessels. A vessel can be a freight ship or oil tanker; tugboat, pushboat or barge; a commercial fishing boat, ferry or cruise ship; or an offshore platform or jack-up oil rig. Even powerboats and Jet-Skis have been construed as vessels in work-related scenarios such as: seamen and longshoremen injuries ,ship and barge crews, offshore oil rig workers.
Attorney For Seamen Accidents
What Is the Jones Act? The Jones Act is a federal statute enacted to impart special rights to seamen injured in the performance of their jobs in navigable waters — whether at sea, on the river, or at port. Those rights include:
- Maintenance — Your employer must pay weekly wages and reasonable living expenses (rent, utilities, transportation, food) for the period that you are unable to work because of a duty-related injury.
- Cure — You are entitled to free medical care until you are cleared to resume work or until you reach maximum medical improvement.
- Monetary damages — Unlike land-based workers, seamen can sue their employers directly for negligence, for ordering them into dangerous situations without appropriate safety measures or for hazardous conditions aboard ship (unseaworthiness) that contributed to injury. The Pascoe Law Firm can help maritime workers recover compensation for future medical care, projected earnings, permanent disability, and pain and suffering.
- Death benefits — The spouse and dependent children of a seaman killed on duty are entitled to monthly benefits or a settlement for lost income and personal loss.
- Longshoremen Injuries — Dock workers and shipyard employees who do not qualify as seamen are covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA), which provides medical, wage and permanent disability benefits similar to workers' compensation, but at substantially better rates.
Different Types of Federal Law That Protects Longshoremen and Seamen
An experienced injury lawyer is familiar with the federally mandated laws established to protect people injured while working on waterways, overseas, or on military bases, including:
- The Jones Act - protects workers injured on ships or vessels due to the negligence of a ship owner, captain or fellow employee. Under the law, injured workers can recover medical care and cost of living expenses.
- The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) - protects land-based maritime workers—such as vessel repairmen or cargo loaders—who suffer injuries or illnesses related to their work. The LHWCA provides compensation for medical care and cost of living expenses.
- The Defense Base Act (DBA) - an extension of the Longshore Act, protects workers who work as private contractors or subcontractors on U.S. military bases or on any lands used by the U.S. for military purposes outside of the U.S., or who work on public work contracts with any U.S. government agency outside of the U.S. when they suffer injuries or illnesses related to their work. The DBA provides compensation for medical care and disability benefits.
- The Non-Appropriated Funds and Instrumentalities Act (NAFIA) - an extension of the Longshore Act, protects civilian employees providing services to the U.S. Armed Forces including those who work for Army and Air Force Exchange Services, Army and Air Force Motion Picture Services, on-shore Navy Ship Stores, Navy Exchanges, Marine Corps Exchanges, Coast Guard Exchanges, and other instrumental positions of the United States under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces conducted for the comfort, pleasure, contentment, and mental and physical improvement of personnel of the Armed Forces. The NAFIA provides compensation for medical care and disability benefits.
- The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) - maritime workers aren’t covered under regular workers’ compensation laws, but the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) allows injured workers to pursue legal action after on-the-job injuries.
Lawyer For A Longshoreman Accident
Attorney John D. Pascoe is familiar with how maritime workers are injured on the job: fires and explosions, exposure to toxic chemicals, slip-and-falls on slippery decks, falls overboard and falls from heights, cargo handling accidents and injuries from machinery and equipment. He is skilled at proving the employer's negligence and maximizing the long-term compensation needed for victims of head trauma, back injuries or paralysis, lost limbs or broken bones, facial disfigurement and other catastrophic and career-ending injuries arising from offshore accidents. We also know the many ways that injured seamen are mistreated, misinformed and coerced by their employers. You have specific rights, including the right to be transported ashore for medical treatment and the right to choose your own doctors. Beware of any offer to settle your claim before talking to a lawyer — you could be signing away many thousands of dollars in potential compensation or waiving rights to ongoing medical care. The Pascoe Law Firm handles Jones Act and maritime accident cases. We provide a free initial consultation to answer your questions and explain your rights. Contact us today at 713-829-4317. Hablamos Español.
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Webpage is intended solely for residents of Texas or Persons seeking representation within Texas. An Attorney-Client relationship only occurs when both parties agree that the Attorney will represent the Client and will not be created until that agreement occurs. Website and all of its pages is intended to be used for educational purposes and does not constituted as legal advice. All information on every page of the website does NOT suggest or claim that the attorney has a specialization in any area of legal practice or certification. Attorney not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specializations.
