Houston Offshore Lawyer
Double Board Certified
Maritime law is VERY specialized and has evolved over the last 200 years in the United States. Only lawyers trained and experienced in that area are familiar with the rules and laws that apply.Joe Stephens is double-board certified in two areas which demonstrates his knowledge and competence to try cases involving this field. He has extensive experience handling maritime cases. He has recovered millions of dollars in trials and settlements involving offshore claims. Each case rises and falls on its on merits, and your recovery, if any, must stand on its own merits. But Joe Stephens has the competency to let you know what your case may be worth.
Offshore and Maritime Law
An Offshore Lawyer is someone who practices an area of law
generally known as 'maritime law'. Maritime law applies to cases
involving injuries or accidents on the waterways of the United
States, in the Gulf of Mexico, or at sea. Typically
these cases involve several separate claims including ones under
a statute known as the Jones Act, claims based on 'general
maritime law', claims based on the Death on the High Seas Act,
and claims based on the Longshore and Harbor Workers'
Compensation Act.
Why hire a maritime lawyer from Houston
The Stephens Law Firm has been successfully
handling Jones Act and maritime claims for years. Because many
oil production and offshore companies have offices in Houston,
Beaumont, and Galveston, Texas our office is conveniently located
close to the district where your claim may need to be filed. Many
offshore workers leave out of the Port of Houston, or Galveston
to go to the rigs or to board their work boats. Their claims can
be filed in Texas and many must be filed in Texas. Injuries
occurring off the coast of Texas may have to file in Texas. Our
attorneys are able to associate lawyers in other states such as
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida which allows us to handle
cases in those courts. Being located in the Greater Houston area
provides us with access to many local experts who have worked for
years in the oil and gas and offshore industries. These include
marine safety experts, former boat captains and pilots, former
offshore crane operators, rigging experts and experts in other
specialized areas that are common in the south Texas area. We
have handled maritime and Jones Act cases in Louisiana, Texas,
Mississippi and Florida, and chances are if your injury occurred
in the Gulf of Mexico, we may be able to help you. Simply phone
to discuss your situation.
What is the Jones Act?
The Jones Act is a federal statute found at 46 United States
Code 688 that was passed by the United States Congress that
allows an injured employee to sue their employer for ALL the
damages that the employee has suffered as a result of an injury.
If the Jones Act applies to you, you will not be limited to
collecting workers compensation benefits which consist of only
medical payments and a small portion of your wages for a fixed
period of time. Instead, if the Jones Act applies and your injury
was caused by the negligence of your employer or a co-employee,
you may then collect ALL of the damages that you have suffered
from your employer. These damages include money for pain and
suffering, money for past and future medical expenses from a
doctor that you choose, money for past and future loss of wages
and fringe benefits that you may have suffered due to your
injury, and any other money damages that you have suffered. Our
Maritime lawyers can explain these damages to you and help you
understand the Jones Act. It may give you extensive rights since
you were working at a dangerous job on the water.
In order for the Jones Act to apply to you, you must qualify as a 'seaman' which means several things. To be a seaman, and therefore have the Jones Act apply in your case, you must satisfy a general 3 part test and you must have been --
- more or less permanently
- assigned to a vessel or fleet of vessels
- in navigation
at the time of your accident.
The 'more or less permanent' assignment has been interpreted to
generally mean that you have spent at least 30% of your time on
'vessels'. So even if 65% to 70% of your time was spent off of
the water on land or elsewhere, you may still satisfy the
'permanent assignment' requirement. EVEN IF YOUR ACCIDENT
OCCURRED ON LAND, YOU MAY STILL FILE A CLAIM UNDER THE JONES ACT
IF YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO A VESSEL BUT ONLY WORKING ON LAND
TEMPORARILY.
What is a Vessel under
the Jones Act?
The definition of what qualifies as a 'vessel' under the Jones
Act is very broad and is usually subject to debate. Traditional
boats such as tug boats, crew boats and supply boats are
definitely vessels under the Jones Act. So are jack-up and
semi-submersible drilling rigs as well as drill ships. Some
special purpose vessels also may qualify depending upon the
circumstances. A crane barge, for example, can be a vessel as
long as it was not used primarily as a 'fixed work platform' and
it moved about sufficiently.
The 'in navigation' requirement is also broadly applied. The
vessel does not need to actually be moving or underway at the
time of your accident. 'In navigation' simply means that the
vessel has not been removed to dry dock or otherwise totally
disabled from operating. Typically as long as it is still capable
of moving about with a few modifications (such as lifting the
anchors or in the case of a jack-up, jacking down the rig) then
the vessel will still be considered 'in navigation'.
An experienced and board certified lawyer like Houston Offshore Lawyer Joe Stephens
has years of experience in determining
when the Jones Act applies to help you win your case.
.U.S. Supreme Court Confirms Vessel
Definition
On February 22nd, 2005, the United States Supreme Court held in Stewart
v. Dutra that a special purpose dredge was a vessel for
purposes of the Jones Act. The Stewart decision clarifies
and assists seaman in proving one important requirement to qualify under the
Jones Act, i.e. that they be working aboard a vessel. Even if the structure
that you were working on was temporarily moored or anchored, if it is
'practically capable' of navigation, you may have been working on
a vessel for purposes of the Jones Act.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers
Act
The Longshore Act is a Federally created statute found at 33
United States Code 901 that generally applies to dock workers in
the Gulf of Mexico. The Longshore Act can be thought of as a
Federal workers compensation statute. It allows the injured
employee to collect both compensation and medical benefits from
his employer when he is injured. The Act is not fault based, and
just like a maintenance and cure claim for a seaman, a
Longshoreman will generally collect benefits for any injury that
simply happens at work, regardless of how it happened.
The amount of compensation benefits to which you are entitled
will depend upon the type of injury you suffered. Some injuries
are called 'scheduled' injuries, such as injuries to a finger,
hand, foot, wrist, eye or arm. Other injuries, such as injuries
to a neck, back or shoulder are 'nonscheduled' injuries. The
compensation due for a scheduled injury will depend upon the
percentage disability rating that your doctor assigns to you when
he is done treating you. For example, a 25% impairment rating to
a finger would receive more compensation than a 15 or 20%
impairment rating. Under a scheduled injury it does not matter
whether or not you can return to your old job after the
injury--you simply receive the scheduled payment based on the
disability rating and nothing more. For a nonscheduled injury you
will be entitled to lifelong benefits, but the company will
receive a credit for any money that they prove you can go out and
earn. In nonscheduled injury cases, the ability of the employee
to return to work is very important, as is his education and the
area where he lives. The amount that the employee can earn after
the accident will determine the compensation to which he is
ultimately entitled.
Mr. Stephens is very familiar with the Longshore Act and can discuss
your rights with you under the Act. It is very important to
remember that you can also file suit against any third party that
may be responsible for your accident--and you can seek full
damages including pain and suffering and full lost wages from
this party. Many platform workers are injured while offloading
boats and even though they may be limited to collecting benefits
under the Longshore Act from their employers, they can file
separate suits against the boat owner if the captain or deckhands
were at fault in causing the accident. This happens often when a
boat captain may not keep the boat steady or when he allows
offloading during rough sea conditions.
The Death on the High Seas Act
The Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) is a Federal law that may
apply when an individual dies while on the 'high seas'. Generally
the high seas are defined as at least 3 miles off the coastline,
but in some cases it can be extended further based on the
original wording of the statute. If the death occurs inside of 3
miles (or perhaps further if the dividing line can be extended)
then DOHSA does not apply to the death. Unfortunately when DOHSA
does apply a surviving spouse or child's recovery for their
deceased loved one can be greatly limited. DOHSA is typically
used by the defendant company to limit recovery of damages. It is
very important to speak to an experienced Houston Offshore Lawyer to
determine if DOHSA must apply, and even if so, what amounts are
still recoverable. We can assist you in answering these
questions.
General Maritime Law
The 'general maritime law' is a body of law that applies to
accidents and injuries that occur on the water. It is actually
derived from old cases and the rules they made, some of them
hundreds of years old, and some even dating back to England.
General maritime law generally applies a 'reasonable' person
standard, and comparative fault applies to the parties involved.
This means that if you have an accident on the water, and general
maritime law applies, the legal test will be whether or each of
the parties acted 'reasonable' under the circumstances. If the
person that caused your accident did not act as a reasonable
person would have, then they will be liable for any damages that
you suffered. However, if you also failed to act as a reasonable
person would have, or if you contributed to your own accident,
then your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault in
contributing to your own accident. For example, if a fellow
boater fails to yield to you when you have the right away, then
he should be a fault. But if you fail to sound your horn to warn
him, which may have prevented the accident, then you may also be
assigned fault which would reduce your recovery. The same set of
rules apply if you are hurt offloading a third party company's
boat or injured while getting on and off a crew boat operated by
someone other than your employer. In such cases, the company may
be at fault, but the jury will also get to decide if your
recovery should be reduced due to any fault on your part. Our
maritime attorneys and lawyers have worked with experts in the
offshore and maritime areas that can help explain to a jury the
responsibilities that each party had at the time of your
accident.
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