JONES ACT CLAIMS
Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Jones Act Claims
Our attorneys represent people injured in the course of their employment at sea or near the water under federal maritime law. We also represent surviving families and next of kin in Jones Act wrongful death litigation. For a free consultation about your right to damages in a Jones Act case, contact one of our Louisiana maritime accident lawyers for the counsel and advocacy you need.
The federal Jones Act addresses the claims of people employed at sea or related industries for personal injury and wrongful death. Because of the Jones Act's relatively liberal approach to liability, damages, and rehabilitation services for people injured or killed at sea, it is usually to the plaintiff's advantage to sue under the Act whenever possible.
Some applications of the Jones Act are more obvious than others. Some of the most important factors to consider include whether the person injured was a working seaman, the responsibility of the vessel's owner or master for the victim's injuries or death, and where the accident occurred. Generally speaking, the Jones Act will apply to any employment-related injury case on the high seas or in the navigable waters of the United States.
The following are examples of claims that will probably or at least arguably fall under the coverage of the Jones Act:
- Accidents suffered in transit (even on helicopters) to or from offshore drilling rigs
- Accidents occurring on certain types of drilling platforms
- Injuries or death resulting from the unseaworthiness of a merchant vessel, tanker, container ship or other commercial vessel
- Injuries or death resulting from the negligence of the master of a commercial vessel
- Accident claims of an employee on a cruise ship, casino barge, or other vessel catering to tourists
- Injuries to harbor and dock workers attributable to the unseaworthiness or negligence of a commercial vessel
- Certain commercial diving accidents
There are many subtleties and nuances to Jones Act claims, including distinctions between injuries suffered in harbors, on voyages along the American coast, and on the open ocean. The Jones Act also addresses claims for wages, living expenses, and medical expenses during a period of convalescence under the Act's maintenance and cure provisions. These claims are easy to overlook unless you're advised by an attorney thoroughly familiar with maritime law.
OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS CLAIMS
Damages Claims for Offshore Oil and Gas Rig Accidents
Work on offshore oil and gas platforms is frequently a risky enterprise, and serious accidents from falling objects to explosions can and do occur. At the our law firm in New Orleans and Metairie, we represent offshore oil and gas workers and their surviving families in serious and fatal accident cases. Contact one of our Louisiana personal injury attorneys for dependable advice about your rights in the aftermath of a drilling platform accident.
We'll examine your case thoroughly to see whether it falls under the federal admiralty jurisdiction through application of the Jones Act, Death on the High Seas Act, or other maritime statute. If not, we'll prepare and present your case under principles of Louisiana negligence law. Either way, you can depend on our lawyers for thorough and highly skilled development of the facts necessary to establish liability and document the full extent of your damages claim.
Our lawyers can represent people injured in such oil and gas industry accidents as the following:
- Collisions between vessels or aircraft and the drilling platform itself
- Injuries caused by loose equipment, falling objects, or unfastened cables
- Crane accidents
- Accidents on support craft such as derrick barges, tugboats, submersibles, jack-up barges or crew boats
- Aviation accidents involving helicopters or pontoon planes at or near drilling platforms
- Fires, explosions and dynamite accidents
- Diving accidents
- Accidents caused by inadequate safety equipment or training
