The Lafayette area is home to thousands of offshore workers. When one of those workers is hurt on the job, federal maritime law applies. Not all personal injury lawyers are experienced with these types of cases. At Anderson Blanda & Saltzman, our personal injury lawyers in Lafayette have handled Jones Act claims and protected the rights of Louisiana seamen for decades.
We have a proven record of securing maximum compensation for our clients and are committed to doing the same for you.
If you are a maritime worker on an eligible vessel and you suffer a work-related injury, you may be able to recover compensation under the Jones Act. This federal law enables you to recover “maintenance and cure” benefits after getting hurt while performing work at sea.
Jones Act cases can be very complicated, so if you’re injured while performing your job duties aboard a vessel or fleet of vessels, you need to find an attorney with experience in this area of law.
Why Hire Our Jones Act Lawyer in Lafayette?
A Jones Act Lawyer represents maritime workers injured in navigable waters and help them secure compensation for negligence, medical expenses, and lost wages. These attorneys prove employer negligence or vessel unseaworthiness to recover damages, offering specialized expertise in federal maritime laws that differ from state-level personal injury cases.
Maritime employers and their insurance companies know that most injured workers have never dealt with the Jones Act before, and they use that inexperience to their advantage. Hiring a Lafayette Jones Act attorney who regularly handles these claims is vital to the success of your case. When you work with us, you get:
- Lafayette personal injury lawyers who have represented seamen in Jones Act and general maritime claims for decades
- A track record of more than $300 million recovered for our clients
- Intimate knowledge of the Gulf offshore industry
- Straight answers about the value of your case
- Fast action to secure vessel logs, incident reports, and other vital evidence before it can be altered, lost, or destroyed
- Free consultation and no fee unless we recover compensation for you
Anderson Blanda & Saltzman can help. Our dedicated and compassionate legal team of Lafayette maritime lawyers have decades of experience representing seamen in Jones Act claims, and we can put our legal skills and compassion for maritime workers to use on your claim. Give us a call at (337) 233-3366 to schedule your consultation and learn more about how we can help you
What is the Jones Act?
The Jones Act is a federal law that protects seamen who are injured while employed on a boat, ship, or other vessel. Eligibility for recovery under the Jones Act is for “any seaman,” which is defined to include anyone assigned to a vessel or fleet of vessels.
Specifically, the law defines a seaman as any sea-based employee who is considered to be a “master or a member of a vessel’s crew” and who makes some contribution to the ship’s work. It doesn’t matter if you’re a deckhand or the captain—you should still be entitled to recover damages from an employer after an accident at sea.
The law also defines vessels broadly. You don’t have to be assigned to a boat or barge to take action. In fact, workers aboard some fixed platforms and other types of offshore drilling rigs—including jack-ups, drill ships, and submersible rigs—may be eligible to recover settlements under the Jones Act
Our legal team of Lafayette Jones Act attorneys will discuss your employment, work duties, and assignments with you to determine if you are eligible for “seaman status” under the Jones Act. If you are, we will work to win recovery maintenance and cure benefits. This means you will receive a daily payment to cover your expenses and medical treatment at the vessel owner’s expense.
Do You Qualify as a Seaman Under the Jones Act?
Seaman status often determines whether a Jones Act case is won or lost. Employers often argue that an injured worker does not qualify as a seaman.
The United States Supreme Court established a test to determine whether a worker is considered a seaman for purposes of the Jones Act. The test asks whether a worker’s duties contribute to the vessel’s function or the accomplishment of its mission, and whether the worker has a connection to a vessel or an identifiable fleet of vessels that is substantial in time and nature.
As a general rule, courts look to see whether roughly 30% or more of a worker’s time on the job is spent in the service of a vessel in navigation. Workers who do not meet the test still have options. Many workers who do not qualify as seamen for the Jones Act will be covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. At Anderson Blanda & Saltzman, our maritime law attorneys can determine which laws apply and how to protect your rights best.
Getting Compensation under the Jones Act
The Jones Act works differently from state workers’ compensation laws. To recover monetary damages under the Jones Act, you’ll have to show that your employer or a co-worker was negligent and that this negligence was a direct cause of the damage you endured. To prove negligence, you must show:
- The vessel owners or employees aboard the vessel behaved more carelessly than a hypothetical reasonable person would have under the circumstances.
- The vessel owners or employees violated a safety regulation in a way that caused harm. (This is considered negligence per se.)
The good news is the burden of proving negligence is lower in Jones Act cases than in other types of personal injury claims. Generally, injured seamen simply must show some evidence that negligence contributed to causing injuries. This is sometimes referred to as “featherweight” causation because even slim evidence that employer negligence contributed to injuries is often sufficient to make a claim.
A Jones Act attorney in Lafayette can help you to meet your burden of proving your claim by working with you to gather evidence, including:
- Maintenance logs
- Witness testimony
- Accident resorts
- Video recordings or photos
- Pay stubs from workers
You’ll also need to show the extent of your damages, as well as demonstrate that your employer was responsible for harming you. Medical records and expert testimony can be helpful in demonstrating how badly you were harmed.
Maintenance and Cure vs. Jones Act Negligence Damages
Injured offshore workers have two separate sources of maritime law recovery. Maintenance and cure is owed whether anyone is found negligent or not. If you are injured or become ill while serving on a vessel, your employer must pay maintenance and cure.
Maintenance is a daily living allowance. Cure is the cost of your medical care. They must be paid to an injured seaman until they reach maximum medical improvement. If an employer refuses to pay maintenance and cure, they can be held liable for damages and attorney fees.
Jones Act negligence damages are different from maintenance and cure. They require proof that your employer’s negligence or the vessel’s unseaworthiness contributed to your injury. If so, your employer must pay:
- Past and future medical expenses above what cure covers
- Lost wages and the value of your room and board on the vessel
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Types of Jones Act Cases
Jones Act cases can arise any time a seaman is subject to an unsafe work environment. Under maritime law, a vessel owner is responsible for maintaining a seaworthy vessel. The vessel owner has a “non-delegable” duty to provide you with a safe place to work. If they fail to fulfill that legal obligation, they become liable for losses.
Unfortunately, not all owners do maintain their vessels. As a result, injury claims are often based on the unseaworthiness of a structure.
Injury claims could also arise based on:
- Inadequate orders provided to staff
- Insufficient supervision on the part of employers
- Negligent hiring or a failure to ensure crew members have the required training and qualifications
- Lack of independent operating procedures that promote safety
It will be up to you to demonstrate failures on the part of employers and crew members in order to successfully recover maintenance and cure benefits.
Getting Help from a Lafayette Jones Act Attorney
If you are severely injured while working in the Gulf of Mexico and/or while working on the waterways of Louisiana aboard vessels of every kind, we can help you. The Lafayette Jones Act lawyers at Anderson Blanda & Saltzman have represented many seamen in Jones Act claims, as well as in other types of cases arising from maritime injuries.
To learn more about the legal assistance our Lafayette Jones Act attorneys can offer, give us a call at (337) 233-3366 to schedule a free case evaluation.