Houston, Texas
Maritime Attorneys

Offshore and maritime work carries serious risks. When a worker is hurt at sea or on navigable waters, the legal landscape looks very different from a standard personal injury claim on land. Federal maritime law governs these cases, and the rules around who qualifies for benefits, how claims are filed, and what compensation is available depend heavily on the specific circumstances of the injury and the worker’s role.

At McLaurin Law, we handle maritime personal injury cases across the Houston area and throughout Texas. Our attorneys are familiar with the Jones Act, general maritime law, and the federal statutes that apply to offshore workers, harbor workers, and their families.

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The Jones Act and Maritime Worker Protections

The foundation of most maritime injury claims is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly called the Jones Act.

This federal law gives American seamen the right to sue their employer for negligence if that negligence contributed to their injury.

To qualify as a “seaman” under the Jones Act, courts apply the two-part test set out by the United States Supreme Court in Chandris, Inc. v.

Latsis: the worker’s duties must contribute to the function of a vessel or the accomplishment of its mission, and the worker must have a connection to a vessel in navigation, or to an identifiable fleet of vessels, that is substantial in both its duration and its nature.

As a rule of thumb, a worker generally must spend at least 30% of their working time aboard a vessel that is in navigation.

A vessel is considered "in navigation" when it is:

  • On navigable waters
  • Afloat and in operation
  • Practically capable of being used for transportation on water

The Jones Act covers a range of maritime workers, including deckhands, engineers, fishing crew, crews of jack-up rigs, drillships, and other mobile offshore drilling units , and others whose duties are tied to a vessel. Workers on fixed offshore platforms generally do not qualify as Jones Act seamen because fixed platforms are treated as artificial islands rather than vessels; those workers are typically covered under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, discussed below. If you were injured while working on a vessel and believe your employer’s negligence was a factor, the Jones Act may provide a path to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Other Federal Laws That May Apply to Your Claim

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The Jones Act is the most well-known maritime injury statute, but it is not the only one. Depending on your job, your location at the time of injury, and the nature of your work, one or more of the following laws may also apply:

The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA)

This federal law provides medical benefits and disability compensation to workers injured in the loading, unloading, repair, or construction of vessels. Workers covered under the LHWCA typically include dock workers, shipbuilders, and certain harbor workers who do not qualify as seamen under the Jones Act.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA)

OCSLA extends federal workers’ compensation protections to workers on fixed offshore platforms and other structures on the Outer Continental Shelf. These are workers who are not covered by the Jones Act because they are not considered vessel crew.

The Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA)

When a maritime worker is killed more than three nautical miles from the US shoreline, DOHSA may allow surviving family members to pursue a wrongful death claim for pecuniary losses. This statute applies in cases of accidental death on the high seas resulting from negligence or unseaworthiness.

General Maritime Law

Beyond specific statutes, general maritime law imposes duties on vessel owners and operators. A key doctrine is the duty of seaworthiness, which requires that a vessel and its equipment be reasonably fit for their intended purpose. A vessel owner’s failure to maintain a seaworthy vessel can give rise to a separate claim for an injured seaman, independent of a Jones Act negligence claim. Because the vessel owner may be a different entity from the seaman’s Jones Act employer, an unseaworthiness claim can open a path to recovery from more than one responsible party.

Maritime Insurance Claims and Denied Benefits

Maritime workers are often covered by specialized maritime insurance policies, and disputes over those policies are common. An insurer may deny a claim, dispute the extent of an injury, or argue that the policy does not cover the circumstances of an accident. A maritime insurance lawyer who understands both the insurance side and the personal injury side of these disputes can be an important asset.

At McLaurin Law, our lead attorney Jason C. McLaurin spent time working with insurance companies before moving to plaintiff-side litigation. That background gives our firm direct insight into how insurers evaluate and contest maritime claims, and how to respond effectively when benefits are wrongly withheld.

Common Maritime Injuries in Texas

Maritime and offshore work involves physically demanding conditions, heavy equipment, and exposure to open water. Injuries that arise in these environments can be severe and long-lasting. Some of the more common maritime injuries we handle include:

  • Slips, trips, and falls on wet or poorly maintained decks
  • Crush injuries from equipment or machinery
  • Burns from fires or chemical exposure
  • Back and spinal injuries from repetitive lifting or sudden accidents
  • Head and traumatic brain injuries
  • Drowning and near-drowning incidents
  • Injuries caused by unsafe vessel conditions or equipment failures

Why Timing Matters in Texas Maritime Cases

Maritime injury claims are subject to specific statutes of limitations that differ from standard personal injury deadlines. Jones Act claims generally must be filed within three years of the injury. DOHSA claims are also generally subject to a three-year limitations period.

The LHWCA imposes shorter deadlines: an injured worker generally must give written notice of the injury to the employer within 30 days and file a claim for compensation within one year. Missing these deadlines can bar a claim entirely, regardless of its merit.

Beyond filing deadlines, early steps in the claims process matter. Employers and their insurers often begin building their defense quickly after an incident. Maintenance and cure benefits, which are a separate category of support owed to injured seamen for basic living expenses and medical care, can become a point of dispute early in the process.

Speaking with an attorney promptly after a maritime injury gives you a better opportunity to preserve evidence, document the circumstances of the accident, and protect your rights under applicable federal law.

Frequently Asked Questions about Maritime Injury in Houston, Texas

Maintenance and cure is a remedy under general maritime law that applies regardless of who was at fault for an injury. Maintenance covers daily living expenses while a seaman is unable to work. Cure covers the cost of medical treatment until the seaman reaches maximum medical improvement. If your employer denies or delays maintenance and cure payments, that itself may give rise to additional legal claims. Under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, a willful and wanton failure to pay maintenance and cure can support an award of compensatory damages and, in appropriate cases, punitive damages.

Not necessarily. The Jones Act applies to workers who spend a significant portion of their time working on a vessel in navigation. Barges, offshore supply vessels, drill ships, and similar structures may qualify as vessels. Whether a particular structure counts as a “vessel” under federal law depends on the facts, and courts have addressed this question in a variety of contexts.

Generally, a Jones Act seaman cannot receive traditional state workers’ compensation. Instead, the Jones Act and maintenance and cure serve as the primary remedies. Workers covered under the LHWCA have a different set of options. The interaction between these systems depends on your specific classification as a maritime worker.

Under the Jones Act, a doctrine called comparative negligence applies. An injured seaman’s recovery may be reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to them, but it is not eliminated entirely. This is a more favorable standard than some other legal frameworks.

A vessel owner has a duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. This means the ship, its equipment, and its crew must be reasonably fit for the purpose for which they are used. An unseaworthiness claim is separate from a Jones Act negligence claim and does not require proving employer negligence, only that the vessel was not in a reasonably seaworthy condition and that the unseaworthy condition caused the injury.

Under the Jones Act, an employer can be held liable for the negligence of any crew member whose negligence contributed to another crew member’s injury. You do not need to show that management or supervisory personnel were negligent, only that some negligence by a fellow crew member contributed to your injury.

Our firm is based in Houston but serves clients throughout the Gulf Coast region and across Texas. Maritime injury cases often involve federal law, which means our representation is not limited by state geography in the same way some cases are.

Contact a Maritime Personal Injury Lawyer today

If you were injured while working on a vessel or offshore, or if you have a dispute related to a maritime insurance claim, contact McLaurin Law to discuss your situation.

CALL (713) 461-6500

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