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Texas Maritime Injury Lawyers | Jones Act, Offshore & Vessel Accident Attorneys

When a seaman, deckhand, longshoreman, offshore worker, harbor worker, vessel passenger, or maritime employee is seriously injured, the applicable law can be very different from ordinary Texas personal injury law.

Gilman & Allison, LLP is a Texas maritime and admiralty law firm representing injured maritime workers and their families in Houston, Corpus Christi, along the Texas Gulf Coast, and throughout Texas.

Our maritime attorneys handle serious injury and wrongful death claims involving vessels, tugboats, towboats, barges, tankers, offshore operations, docks, terminals, ship channels, and other maritime workplaces.

With attorneys experienced in both maritime law and serious personal injury litigation, Gilman & Allison handles claims arising under the Jones Act, Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), Section 905(b), general maritime law, and other federal maritime statutes.

If you were injured aboard a vessel, offshore, at a dock or terminal, or while working in the maritime industry, call Gilman & Allison, LLP at (713) 224-6622 for a free case review.

Texas Maritime Injury Attorneys

Maritime injury cases occupy a highly specialized area of federal law.

The first question is often not simply whether someone was negligent. An attorney may first need to determine the injured worker’s legal status and which body of law governs the accident.

Depending on the circumstances, an injured maritime worker may have rights under:

Determining which law applies can affect who may be sued, what damages may be recovered, what defenses apply, where the lawsuit may be filed, and whether the injured worker has a right to a jury trial.

Gilman & Allison’s maritime practice focuses on navigating these issues and pursuing claims against the parties responsible for serious maritime injuries.

Houston Maritime Injury Lawyers

Houston is one of the most important maritime, petrochemical, and commercial shipping centers in the United States.

The Houston Ship Channel and surrounding industrial corridor include ports, docks, terminals, refineries, chemical facilities, shipyards, warehouses, and other maritime operations where thousands of workers interact with commercial vessels and heavy equipment.

Maritime accidents in this environment can involve:

Gilman & Allison represents maritime injury clients in Houston, Deer Park, Pasadena, La Porte, Baytown, Galveston, Texas City, Freeport, Corpus Christi, and communities throughout the Texas Gulf Coast.

Jones Act Lawyers for Injured Seamen

The Jones Act provides important protections to qualifying seamen injured because of their employer’s negligence.

A Jones Act case is fundamentally different from an ordinary workers’ compensation claim.

Depending on the circumstances, an injured seaman may be able to bring a negligence claim directly against his or her employer and seek damages for losses resulting from the injury.

Potential Jones Act cases can involve:

Whether a worker qualifies as a Jones Act seaman is a legal question that can depend on the worker’s connection to a vessel or identifiable fleet of vessels and the nature and duration of that connection.

Job titles alone do not necessarily determine seaman status.

Workers such as deckhands, captains, mates, engineers, tankermen, vessel cooks, crane operators, commercial divers, and other vessel-based employees may qualify depending on the facts of their employment.

Maintenance and Cure Claims

An injured seaman may also have rights to maintenance and cure under general maritime law.

Maintenance generally refers to an injured seaman’s reasonable living expenses while recovering ashore, while cure generally concerns necessary medical treatment until maximum medical improvement is reached.

These obligations can exist independently of whether the employer caused the accident.

Disputes can arise when a maritime employer or its insurer terminates benefits, refuses medical treatment, disputes whether an injury is work-related, or contends that the seaman has reached maximum medical improvement.

Our maritime attorneys evaluate maintenance-and-cure rights alongside any Jones Act or unseaworthiness claims arising from the accident.

Unseaworthiness Claims Under General Maritime Law

Qualifying seamen may also have claims based on the unseaworthiness of a vessel.

A vessel and its appurtenances must be reasonably fit for their intended purposes. Depending on the circumstances, an unseaworthy condition may involve defective equipment, unsafe methods of work, inadequate equipment, an unsafe deck condition, or an incompetent or insufficient crew.

An accident can potentially give rise to both a Jones Act negligence claim and a general maritime law unseaworthiness claim.

Identifying every available cause of action is an important part of evaluating a serious maritime injury.

Longshoreman and Harbor Worker Injury Lawyers

Not every maritime worker is a Jones Act seaman.

Longshoremen, stevedores, terminal workers, ship repairers, shipbuilders, and other qualifying maritime employees may instead fall within the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, commonly called the LHWCA.

The LHWCA provides a federal workers’ compensation system for qualifying maritime employees, but benefits against an employer may not be the worker’s only potential recovery.

When negligence by a vessel contributes to an accident, an injured longshore or harbor worker may have a separate third-party claim under Section 905(b) of the LHWCA.

These claims can involve vessel conditions, cargo operations, access equipment, gangways, ladders, decks, hatches, containers, lines, and other hazards encountered while working aboard or around a vessel.

Section 905(b) Vessel Negligence Claims

Section 905(b) claims are a particularly specialized component of maritime injury law.

Under the circumstances recognized by federal maritime law, a vessel may owe duties relating to the condition of the vessel when operations are turned over to a stevedore, certain hazards known to the vessel, and circumstances in which the vessel becomes actively involved in cargo or other operations.

A proper investigation may therefore require determining:

Gilman & Allison handles maritime cases involving the intersection of vessel operations, longshore work, terminal operations, and federal maritime law.

Tugboat, Towboat and Barge Injury Attorneys

Tugboat and barge operations create unique hazards.

Crew members may work around towing lines, winches, capstans, heavy equipment, narrow decks, slippery surfaces, moving barges, and constantly changing weather and water conditions.

Serious accidents may involve:

When a deckhand, tankerman, engineer, captain, or other crew member is injured, determining whether the worker qualifies as a Jones Act seaman should be addressed promptly.

Offshore Injury Lawyers

Offshore injury claims can present another layer of jurisdictional complexity.

The applicable law may depend on where the accident occurred, what type of structure or vessel was involved, the worker’s employment status, and what work was being performed.

An offshore accident may potentially implicate the Jones Act, general maritime law, LHWCA, OCSLA, or other state or federal law.

Gilman & Allison evaluates offshore injury claims involving vessels, platforms, drilling operations, service vessels, crew transfers, equipment failures, falls, lifting operations, and other offshore incidents.

Commercial Diving and Dive Boat Accidents

Commercial and recreational diving accidents can also involve maritime law.

Potential claims may arise from inadequate dive planning, unsafe vessel operations, improper supervision, failure to account for divers, defective equipment, inadequate emergency procedures, or failures during a rescue operation.

These cases can require analysis of both maritime law and the operational standards applicable to the particular diving activity.

Gangway, Ladder and Vessel Access Accidents

Getting on or off a vessel can be one of the most dangerous parts of maritime work.

Gangways, pilot ladders, accommodation ladders, Jacob’s ladders, docks, platforms, and other access systems must function in a constantly changing marine environment.

Accidents may result from:

A serious fall involving vessel access may implicate the vessel owner, operator, employer, terminal operator, dock owner, contractor, or multiple parties.

Maritime Wrongful Death Attorneys

Some maritime accidents result in fatal injuries.

When a seaman, longshoreman, offshore worker, passenger, or other person dies because of negligence or an unsafe maritime condition, surviving family members may have remedies under federal maritime law or applicable state law.

Depending on where and how the accident occurred, potential claims may arise under the Jones Act, Death on the High Seas Act, general maritime law, LHWCA, or Texas wrongful death law.

Because different statutes can provide different remedies, determining the governing law is critical.

What Compensation Can an Injured Maritime Worker Recover?

Available damages depend heavily on the worker’s legal status and the claims being asserted.

Depending on the applicable law and circumstances, a maritime injury claim may involve compensation for:

The damages available under one maritime cause of action are not necessarily identical to those available under another.

That is another reason why identifying the correct maritime legal framework at the beginning of a case is important.

Maritime Injury Investigations Require Immediate Action

Maritime accident evidence can disappear quickly.

Vessels leave port. Crews rotate. Equipment is repaired. Lines and machinery are replaced. Electronic records can be overwritten. Surveillance footage may not be retained indefinitely.

Important evidence may include:

Prompt investigation can therefore be particularly important following a serious maritime accident.

Why Choose Gilman & Allison for a Maritime Injury Case?

Maritime law is not simply another category of personal injury litigation.

It is a distinct body of federal law involving specialized statutes, doctrines, terminology, jurisdictional rules, and defenses.

Gilman & Allison, LLP focuses on maritime and admiralty matters as a core component of its Texas litigation practice.

Our attorneys understand the industries operating along the Texas Gulf Coast and the legal issues that arise when accidents involve commercial vessels, seamen, longshoremen, ports, terminals, docks, offshore operations, and marine transportation.

That combination allows our firm to handle cases where maritime law, personal injury law, commercial operations, and federal litigation intersect.

Maritime Lawyers Serving the Texas Gulf Coast

Gilman & Allison represents maritime clients throughout Texas, including cases arising around:

Houston | Houston Ship Channel | Port of Houston | Deer Park | Pasadena | La Porte | Baytown | Galveston | Texas City | Freeport | Corpus Christi | Gulf of Mexico

Our attorneys handle maritime cases involving accidents aboard vessels and at docks, terminals, ports, ship channels, offshore locations, and other navigable waters.