Spring Maritime Injury Lawyer

The maritime industry burgeons along the Texas Gulf Coast, from offshore drilling platforms to ships transporting goods and passengers. It can be exciting, lucrative, but also highly dangerous, with injuries that often deadly. Depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to compensation for your physical, financial, and more subjective emotional injuries if you are hurt doing your job.

Our personal injury attorneys have the experience to identify under which laws your claim might fall. If your employer or others at your job were negligent, you could pursue a civil lawsuit. A maintenance and cure claim may satisfy your need for a paycheck and medical care, and the Jones Act of 1920 may be an option to recover damages similar to a negligence claim. To learn more about how your case could proceed, contact a Spring maritime injury lawyer at Schechter Shaffer & Harris.

Jones Act and LHWCA Claims

The federal government determined that when personal injury and workers’ compensation are not available to seafaring workers, it would ensure compensation for physical, financial, and emotional injuries. Seamen are eligible for compensation through the Jones Act or the Longshore and Harbor Worker Compensation Act (LHWCA) if they work on a vessel or offshore operation affiliated with oil or gas, and spend significant time in their workday doing so. Their efforts must contribute to the vessel’s overall operation.

If a seaman is injured on land duty, coverage may still be available if a large enough portion of the work is done on waterways or in the Gulf of Mexico. The Jones Act may also cover work-related exposure to toxic substances that result in illnesses such as mesothelioma. A Spring maritime injury attorney understands what is involved in prevailing under this type of claim.

Maintenance and Cure Claims

The Jones Act and other maritime accident laws permit injured seafaring workers to plead for maintenance, which is the equivalent of lost wages in a negligence lawsuit; and cure, the equivalent of the medical care that would have been paid under workers’ compensation or a negligence lawsuit.

Negligence and Maritime Accidents

Maritime workers who do not qualify for compensation under the Jones Act may still be eligible if their employers are negligent. These cases are resolved in civil actions before juries when employers do not carry workers’ compensation and benefits are not available under it. Texas permits companies to self-insure or forego workers’ compensation insurance to become non-subscribers. Some companies also submit to binding arbitration and will pay what the arbitrator determines.

Negligence lawsuits are based on employers who owe a duty to employees to treat them as a reasonable employer would. If they breach that duty, then a civil action may be appropriate. For instance, if they provide substandard equipment or unsafe vessels, rigs, and drilling platforms, or fail to adequately train employees, and a worker is injured because of it.

Wrongful Death On or Near a Seafaring Vessel

If a maritime worker dies from injuries suffered in a work-related accident, and the circumstances would have supported a negligence lawsuit, under the Death on the High Seas Act, family members can claim damages for wrongful death. Accidents might include a vessel capsizing, causing the seafaring person to drown. A skilled lawyer who works on maritime injury cases can help gain the evidence needed in a wrongful death case.

Learn How a Spring Maritime Injury Attorney Could Help You Get Compensated

Maritime accidents are often catastrophic, and if you are involved in one, you may need extensive medical care now and in the future. Fortunately, you can be compensated for these injuries and those that affect you emotionally and financially, through workers’ compensation, negligence lawsuits, or federal laws.

Not all attorneys understand maritime law and you should choose one that handles these cases regularly. The attorneys at Schechter Shaffer & Harris know the best way to represent you for the maximum compensation available. They can begin the process after your first meeting and speak with you to discern the details of your injury or illness. Call a Spring maritime injury lawyer today to schedule your consultation.