Houma Maritime Lawyers

Top Houma Maritime Injury Lawyers Focused on Helping You.

If you’ve been injured while working in any maritime-related occupation, discuss your situation with the Houma Maritime Accident Lawyers at Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards. We are proven advocates for injured and disabled Louisiana maritime workers. Thousands of Louisiana residents work in the maritime and offshore industry – an estimated one in five jobs in our state is connected to the maritime industry.

It is demanding and sometimes dangerous work, either aboard ships, work boats, barges or oil drilling rigs offshore. And while these jobs have risks, maritime workers have the legal right to protection against unsafe conditions.

Our Houma Maritime Injury Lawyers will investigate your offshore or shipping accident. We have years of experience in maritime injury claims, including the Jones Act and Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and all other aspects of General Maritime Law.

Our attorneys have helped:

• Offshore workers in the oil & gas industry injured on oil rigs, drilling ships, jack-up barges and tankers.
• Seamen, crewmen, deckhands and others aboard vessels, ships and commercial fishing boats.
• Workers on docks who load/unload cargo, or those involved in ship maintenance, repair or demolition.
• Victims of offshore helicopter accidents. Helicopters are a common form of transport for offshore workers, and from 2003-2010, 49 workers were killed in offshore helicopter accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those who don’t qualify as Jones Act seamen but who work on docks, in shipyards, shipping terminals and ports near navigable waters, due to the dangerous nature of your work, you are covered by the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers Compensation Act.

While vessel crewmen are generally covered under the Jones Act, if you are working on a fixed offshore platform, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, or OCSLA, covers injuries for the majority of offshore oil rig workers. Passed by Congress in 1953, the purpose of the OCSLA is to provide oil & gas workers on the Outer Continental Shelf with the benefits found under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

Our Houma Maritime Accident Lawyers will help you obtain the maximum compensation for your injuries that you are entitled to. Whether your case involves a ship, fire or explosion, negligent cargo or cables on a barge, failed equipment maintenance, or any other factor, you have special rights as a maritime worker. Our law firm has assisted marine workers since 1957. We understand the difficult jobs you do, and the stress and uncertainty that can comes for families after a serious injury.

Injured in a Maritime Accident? Make the Wright Call.

Who can file a claim under the Jones Act?

The Jones Act, originally known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, is a federal law that protects injured seamen and gives them the right to bring a claim for compensation against their employers.

While the law applies to seamen, it does not distinguish what a “seaman” is. This can be a challenge, but our Houma Maritime Accident Lawyers can help you navigate the Jones Act. Generally, qualifying for the Jones Act requires working on a vessel in navigable waters for at least 30 percent of the time, being connected in some way to the vessel – or fleet – and contributing in some way to the work of the vessel.

Once a worker or employee is determined to be a seaman, then it must be proven that the injuries he or she sustained were the result of negligence of the employer, another employee, or because of defective equipment on the vessel that the employer is responsible for. Claims can involve:

• Failure to supervise or negligent orders
• Failure to take heavy weather conditions into consideration
• Failure to provide tools, maintain equipment or safety equipment
• Failure to provide medical care
• Physical violence by another employee within the scope of work.

Though there are some exceptions, a Jones Act claim must be filed within three years of the date a seaman discovered the injury. If an injured seaman has established negligence, he or she can ask the jury to award several types of damages.

These fall into two categories, economic and non-economic. Economic damages provide compensation for past and future medical fees, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. Non-economic damages pay for pain and suffering, mental anguish and to punish an employer in specific cases where they ignored the safety of their workers.

If you were injured in a maritime accident, you need to immediately seek legal representation. Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards LLC offers a FREE consultation to evaluate your case. If you DO NOT recover damages, we DO NOT charge a fee.

Contact us today for a free consultation.