It can be a trying and difficult time if you sustain an injury while working on an offshore vessel. Not only are you dealing with medical procedures and time missed from work, but you also want to make sure you’re getting fairly compensated by the vessel’s owner for your suffering.
It’s important to understand the types of injuries and legal statutes that give you legal standing to recover damages.
Here, we’ll discuss how various acts and laws designed to provide you recourse if you’re injured while working on a maritime vessel in Louisiana.
Offshore Injury
There are many serious and medically costly injuries that can occur when you’re working offshore. Some of the most common offshore injuries we’ve seen in our years of offshore injury claims include:
- Head, neck, spine, and back injuries
- Limb loss
- Broken bones
- Burns
Offshore Attorney: Maritime & Jones Act Lawyer
If you’re injured working in the offshore oil and gas industry, your legal case can quickly get complicated. To figure out the way to fight the most effective case, you first need to figure out exactly where your injury occurred—injuries sustained in federal bodies of water are treated differently than those sustained in state waterways.
For example, if your injury occurred on a fixed platform in the federally controlled Gulf of Mexico, your claim will be handled by a federal court under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). This act lets you claim damages from the person or company responsible for your injuries.
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The Jones Act
Injuries often occur when an owner has not maintained a seaworthy vessel. Maintaining a seaworthy vessel is the owner’s obligation. In other words, the Jones Act says that the vessel’s owner has a right to give you a safe place to work, and if he or she hasn’t met that duty, you have a right to be compensated for this negligence.
To be covered under the Jones Act, you must:
- Be a seaman. A seaman is an any individual who performs navigation or helps a maritime vessel to perform its intended purpose.
- Work on a vessel or fleet of vessels.
Anderson Blanda & Saltzman
We have handled many cases of maritime accidents that occurred on vessels operating in the Gulf of Mexico or the Louisiana waters. For decades, we have successfully won many cases that involved offshore injuries in both state and federal waters. Often, our cases have involved situations of crew negligence, faulty equipment, or defective vessels resulting in injury. No matter where your injury occurred, we have a complete understanding of OCSLA, the Jones Act, and other laws and statutes needed to win you payments from the vessel owner.
While handling your claim, we are committed to helping restore your life to normalcy. If we accept your case, we provide you financial support to treat your injuries, direction to ideal medical care, and complete guidance. We also handle all of your insurance claims.
Our promise to you is that we’ll be there for your physical and legal needs, from start to finish.