How do you find the Best Attorney for Your Maritime Injury or Jones Act case?

Every month, thousands of visitors come to our firm's websites to find useful, free information about legal issues.

Have you been injured offshore during your maritime employment? Has a loved one been killed? You probably have a lot of questions you want answered. You probably want honest, straightforward advice. You may even need an attorney to help you through the process.

We accept cases for injured offshore workers. Unlike some, we do not represent insurance companies or maritime employers. Our practice is devoted 100% to representing injured people and their families.

Click Here To Get The Free Book On Winning Your Maritime Injury Case Written By Board Certified Injury Lawyer Brian Beckcom

Our clients and website visitors tend to have a lot of questions. We answer your questions. Some of the most common questions are listed below. Click on the link if you would like to read the article:

How to hire the best lawyer for your Jones Act or offshore injury case

Helpful resources for Maritime Injury Cases

Five ways to protect your rights after you are Injured Offshore

Will I get fired or "Blackballed" if I hire a lawyer or pursue a legal claim?

Should I give the company a "Recorded Statement?"

Tips on hiring a lawyer for your case

What is my case worth?

Financial Insecurity & Wrongful Termination - Two big fears after a work-related injury

Our maritime attorney and Jones Act lawyers are here to serve injured Seamen, Sailors, Merchant Marines, Roustabouts, Roughnecks, Tankermen, Pilots, Captains, Cooks, Galleyhands, Drillers, Oil Rig Workers, and all the men and women who work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, the Port of Houston, the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, the Intracoastal Waterways, on the open sea, across the United States, and around the world.

We know how vital the offshore industry is to keeping our regional and national economy strong. Representing injured seamen, sailors, and offshore workers has always been a centerpiece of our law practice.

We believe that the workers who keep Gulf Coast oil production running, who man the vessels that ply the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, who work in the waters at the Port of Houston, the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, and the Intracoastal waterways deserve the best legal representation available when accidental injury strikes them down and takes away their livelihood. Because sea and shipping accidents frequently involve death, V & B maritime law and Jones Act attorneys are often called upon to represent the family members of merchant marines, seamen, sailors, and offshore oil rig workers killed on the job.

A seaman’s rights to compensation when injury occurs is governed by federal legislation known as the Jones Act. The Jones Act was created in 1920 in part to extend unique rights to compensation for injured seaman. The Act was modeled closely after the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which was passed in 1906 to grant railroad workers and their families the legal right to sue their employers when preventable injuries and deaths occur on the job.

As with FELA, the Jones Act allows seamen and offshore workers to sue their employers and the owners of ships and offshore oil rigs directly. This means that an injured seamen’s compensation is not limited to the “no fault” arrangements common in most state workers compensation programs. The non-negotiable terms of workers compensation are often inadequate in providing the long-term “maintenance and cure” that injured seaman require, especially in cases involving serious injuries such as dismemberment, brain injury, spinal cord injury and severe burns.

In order to recover under the Jones Act, a seaman must prove negligence or fault on the part of the vessel's owners, operators, officers, or other employees. A seaman may also recover by proving negligence by reason of a defect in the vessel, its gear, tackle, or equipment, a condition sometimes referred to as "unseaworthiness" of the vessel. For this reason, seriously injured seamen often hire Jones Act attorneys or maritime lawyers to represent their interests and ensure they receive fair treatment.

The Jones Act has many provisions which are very favorable to those who are injured offshore. However, only a seaman can recover under the Jones Act. A seaman is a member of the crew of a vessel or someone assigned to a vessel or a fleet of vessels. V & B attorneys have worked extensively with crew members, merchant marines, seamen, sailors and offshore oil rig workers who have been injured while working on barges, rigs, tugboats towboats, crew boats, drill ships, dredges, floating cranes, tankers, cargo ships, fishing vessels, chemical ships, drill ships, research vessels, construction barges, lay barges, motorized platforms, diving vessels, cruise ships, recreational boats or other floating and movable structures.

To promote seamen’s awareness of their rights under the Jones Act and other maritime laws, V & B publishes articles regularly on the firm-sponsored website The Maritime Lawyer. This site strives to keep seamen informed of Jones Act and other maritime legislation that affects them, as well as news and changes in the maritime industry.

If you need assistance with an injury sustained while working aboard a sea vessel, a dredge, an offshore oil rig, or other offshore equipment, contact the Houston law offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom, L.L.P. today. While our Jones Act lawyers and maritime attorneys focus on Jones Act cases in the Gulf Coast, due to the federal jurisdiction of the Jones Act, our attorneys have also been called on to help seamen injured in any United States seaport and around the world. Through experience and determination, we can make a positive difference in the outcome of your case, and ensure that you have the financial security you’ll need to recover from the injuries you’ve sustained.

Helping Seamen Exercise Their Rights under the Jones Act

Working on the ocean has always been perilous, and jobs at sea remain one of the world’s most dangerous occupations. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that fishing is second only to timber cutting in the number of annual on the job fatalities, with more than 70 deaths per 100,000 workers. The same trends apply in the offshore oil industry. There are far too many injuries, and unfortunately, all too often, the companies and individuals responsible refuse to accept responsibility for the damage their actions cause. Also, across the shipping industry, frequent work around heavy machinery, working on wet surfaces and at elevated work spaces, and with inadequate safety equipment and regulations in place, the potential for serious injury is everywhere. When ship owners, management and employers don’t take all steps necessary to stop preventable injury aboard a ship, then they must answer for their negligence in a court of law.

Like many laws passed in the early 20th century for the benefit and safety of workers, the Jones Act has many opponents today. Big business continues to lobby hard to have the Jones Act revised, and their attorneys and insurance companies offer stiff resistance when offshore workers attempt to collect for serious and costly injuries. To reach a fair and satisfactory conclusion, seamen must frequently resort to the law to pursue their rights to full compensation, often with the help of an experienced Jones Act attorney or maritime lawyer.

Since the very beginning of the firm, V & B attorneys have repeatedly obtained positive results for the seaman community through the Jones Act and general maritime law. We work hard in our defense of the Jones Act and maritime law because we are determined not to let big business do to those who work in shipping what it has already done to so many of America’s once-great industries. During the past six years of the Bush administration, safety regulations for miners, steel workers, factory workers and other dangerous professions have been scaled back severely, limiting the rights workers have at their disposal to obtain compensation when their employers ignore safety concerns. Predictably, this has led to an increase in on-the-job injuries and deaths across numerous industries.

At Vujasinovic & Beckcom, L.L.P., we believe that through continuous and vigilant defense of the Jones Act, we can maintain safe working conditions for seamen and force the shipping industry to make the long overdue investments in safety that they owe to their workers. If you need assistance with an injury sustained while working aboard a sea vessel or offshore oil rig, contact the Houston law offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom, L.L.P. for a free consultation from one of our maritime attorneys or Jones Act lawyers today.

Blog for Jones Act & Maritime Law

Maritime Injury Attorney Blog

Library for Jones Act & Maritime Law:

Do you deserve compensation after a commercial diving accident?
Description: Many victims of commercial dive accidents want to know if they deserve compensation for their injuries and if their case falls under the Jones Act. Some maritime employers will try to argue that divers are not covered under the Jones Act, but a skilled, knowledgeable maritime accident attorney like those at Vujasinovic & Beckcom know better.
Hurt in a maritime accident? Don’t settle for meager compensation!
Description: Are you thinking about settling for a quick payout from your employer or their insurance company after a serious maritime accident? That is just what “they” are hoping you will do – take a little bit of money and go. What the insurance company and your employer DON’T want you to do is fight for the compensation that you deserve under the Jones Act – especially if there was any employer negligence involved in your maritime accident.
Do you want to win your boat injury Jones Act case? Then make sure you get reliable advice and input by ordering "The Insiders Guide to Winning Your Maritime Injury Case" from a Board Certified Injury Attorney who has represented hundreds of injured boat workers personally.
Description: Jones Act cases can be very valuable if handled properly. However, did you know that most lawyers will never represent a client in a Jones Act case in their entire legal career? And did you know that some lawyers who advertise for Jones Act cases don't handle such cases on a regular basis?
Need medical care, maybe even surgery, after an offshore injury? An experienced Jones Act maritime lawyer can help you.
Description: After an offshore accident and injury, usually the last thing your company wants to do is help you get medical care. With a qualified Jones Act maritime lawyer on your side, you can get the medical treatment you need.
Can't most personal injury lawyers handle a Jones Act or other offshore injury case?
Description: A lot of personal injury lawyers advertise for Jones Act and other maritime injury cases: but only a very small percentage of attorneys are actually qualified to handle these cases.
Is enough being done to combat the rise in pirate attacks?
Description: Pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden have nearly doubled from last year, giving maritime workers and experts plenty to worry about. Given the increasing boldness of Somali pirate attacks and the serious dangers facing vessel workers, is enough being done to keep seamen safe?
Houston, Texas attorney: How to hire the best lawyer for your international offshore accident Jones Act case.
Description: Cases involving international offshore accidents are complicated: you need a maritime and Jones Act lawyer with a track record of successfully handling cases for foreign seamen.
Insurance company putting pressure on you after a maritime injury?
Description: Insurance companies are focused on making money, not on paying injured maritime workers for their injuries. If you have been hurt in an offshore accident, here are some tips to keep in mind when facing pressure from your employer or their insurance company, tips that could very well save your case.
How to hire the best lawyer for your Jones Act or other offshore injury case
Description: Offshore injury cases require a lawyer with expertise in the Jones Act and maritime law: don't hire the wrong attorney for your maritime injury case
Maritime workers: don’t wait to get help after your spine or back injury
Description: Jones Act seamen and maritime workers are at risk of being injured on-the-job because of dangerous working conditions. Workers who suffer from a spine or back injury may not realize right away that they were hurt, and could miss out on important medical treatment and compensation from their employer.