Jones Act & Maritime Law Attorneys

Serving 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 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.

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 we 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 workspaces, 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.

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 today.

Library for Jones Act & Maritime Law Attorneys:

• The number one mistake injured offshore workers make that can wreck their case   
  Description: Injured offshore workers, including Jones Act seamen and merchant mariners, often get bad advice in their legal case. This article reveals the number one mistake injured workers make that can wreck their legal case.
• Financial Insecurity & Wrongful Termination - Two Big Fears When You Suffer An On The Job Injury   
  Description: Taking care of your financial needs during the lawsuit process
  
  At our law firm, we understand the financial devastation that may result from an offshore injury. Therefore, unlike most law firms, we can arrange for loans and advances to qualifying clients.
  
  These loans will allow you to make ends meet while we are working your case. We will not lend you money to buy a new vehicle or upgrade your lifestyle. Instead, the objective is simply to help you with food, clothing, and other necessities and to avoid your feeling pressure to settle your case cheaply as a result of wrongful financial pressure put on you by the company.
• Offshore Platform Injuries   
  Description: I was injured on an offshore oil platform. What are my legal rights?
  
  We see these kind of cases frequently. Unfortunately, there is no quick and easy answer to your question.
  
  An offshore platform differs from an offshore rig because most of the time, the rig can be moved from place to place while the platform is fixed permanently to the ocean floor.
  
  This distinction can make a big difference in your legal rights.
• I was exposed to benzene, asbestos, or another toxic substance as part of my maritime work - What are my legal rights?   
  Description: Many workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals or other substances like benzene, asbestos, chlorine, cleaning solvents, etc. as part of their maritime work on vessels, ships, jack-up rigs, oil rigs, and other maritime equipment.
  
  For instance, recently, a worker who was exposed to benzene over the course of his 20 years as a seaman developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The seaman claims that 18 of his former employers were negligent and has sued them under the Jones Act for his damages.
  
  One of the defendants includes Kirby Inland Marine, a defendant our law firm has sued before on behalf of injured seamen.
• Injured in the Gulf of Mexico - What law applies?   
  Description: As the price of oil increases, the demands for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, both in shallow water and deeper water, will only increase. So will the demand for oil workers willing to work in often harsh and remote locations in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.
  
  Recently, in fact, there has been talk in the United States Congress about opening up more areas in the Gulf of Mexico for oil exploration and drilling purposes.
  
  Unfortunately, the end result of more workers in the Gulf of Mexico, and more companies rushing to get oil out of remote and often dangerous places in the Gulf of Mexico is more injured workers and more workplace deaths.
• Injured on a cruise ship? You have legal rights   
  Description: Houston and Galveston have two of the busiest ports in the country for cruise ship business. Most of the major cruise ship companies make port in Galveston or the Port of Houston, or both.
  
  Cruise ship vacations can be great fun. However, too often, injuries occur on cruise ships that were preventable.
  
  If you are injured on a cruise ship, you have legal remedies. Your case most likely falls under "maritime law," so you will want to hire an experience maritime attorney to review your case.
• How companies mistreat offshore workers when they are injured   
  Description: Jones Act and maritime injury workers who are injured offshore are often mistreated or not given proper medical care.
• Five mistakes that can sink your Jones Act or maritime injury case   
  Description: Our firm receives a lot of calls from workers in the offshore injuries. We also receive a lot of calls from lawyers with clients who were hurt offshore.
  
  Often, these lawyers have never handled an offshore injury or wrongful death case and want our advice or want us to accept a case they have been working on.
  
  We are happy to help. However, it is always much better to call us soon after your injury or accident claim.
  
  Why? Because if you don't, you may accidentally do something to sink your case before it even gets started.
  
  We see the same mistakes again and again. They are easy to avoid. But if you've never been in the situation before, you may not even know you are making a mistake before it's already made.
• Injured on a casino boat? You may have special rights under the Jones Act   
  Description: Casino Boat Injury claims. Casino boat workers may have special legal rights under the Jones Act and general maritime law.
• Reporting your offshore injury may be the most important thing you do for your case   
  Description: Reporting your offshore injury may be one of the most important things you do if you eventually need to seek legal help for that injury.
• The difference between Jones Act and Longshoremen   
  Description: How to tell the difference between the Jones Act and Longshore injury cases
• How to Choose the Right Lawyer for Your Jones Act or Maritime Injury Case   
  Description: Houston Texas Attorney Explains How To Select the Best Attorney for Your Jones Act or Maritime Injury Case
• Houston Attorney Explains Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision Affecting Injured Offshore Workers   
  Description: Houston Texas Attorney Discusses Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision & Its Impact on Injured Railroad Workers and Injured Offshore Workers
• SEAMAN'S ALERT - Houston Texas Attorney Gives Important Warning to Injured Offshore Workers   
  Description: Seaman's Alert - Houston Texas Attorney Gives Important Warning to Injured Offshore Workers
• Generally, only "pecuniary damages" are recoverable in a maritime death case   
  Description: Texas Attorney Explains the Damages Available to Survivors of Those Killed At Sea
• Types of Damages Allowed Under the Jones Act   
  Description: Houston, Texas law firm explains damages available under the Jones Act.
• Workers Sue for Being Placed in Unsafe Work Position & Working on Unsafe Equipment   
  Description: Offshore workers placed in unsafe work positions may be held responsible if one of their workers is injured on the job.
• The test for "seaman" status under the Jones Act   
  Description: Board Certified Texas Lawyer Explains "Seaman" Status Under the Jones Act
• What kinds of cases does the firm accept?   
  Description: Houston, Texas Law Firm explains what kind of cases the firm accepts, emphasizing serious injury and death cases.
• Texas Attorney Explains Jones Act Lawsuits   
  Description: Texas Attorney Explain Jones Act Lawsuit Process
• Texas Attorney Exposes the Truth About Offshore Injury Cases   
  Description: Texas Injury Attorney Exposes the Truth About Offshore Injury Cases With Free Telephone Consulations for Injured Offshore Workers
• Jones Act Seaman Status - Response to Defendant Motion for Summary Judgment [PDF]   
  Description: Jones Act Seaman Status - Response to a Jones Act Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment

Frequent Questions for Jones Act & Maritime Law Attorneys:

• What is the statute of limitations under the Jones Act for injuries at sea?

Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801