FIGHTING TO GET YOU THE COMPENSATION YOU DESERVE AFTER AN OFFSHORE WORK ACCIDENT:
Employees who work offshore work in environments that are more inherently hazardous than most other jobs. Oil rigs, dredges, cruise ships, and cargo ships can face extreme weather conditions and require the highest levels of maintenance. When employers act negligently and fail to maintain health and safety standards or the standard of their vessels, and you are injured, you could be entitled to seek compensation through either negligence or maritime law.
Seamen and offshore workers are at risk every day of suffering a serious injury at work. There are many dangers present while working on offshore vessels, such as fires and explosions, gas leaks, heavy objects falling, and extreme weather conditions. Maritime law serves to protect workers at sea and ensure that in the event of an injury, they are afforded sufficient compensation, including maintenance and cure.
Understanding maritime law can often be complex. Many workers are unsure which type of maritime law applies to their injury claim. We have seen many workers accept compensation from their employers that did not adequately cover their injury costs and which they were not able to change at a later date. As such, it is extremely important that you speak with an experienced maritime lawyer as soon as possible if you have been injured offshore.
ABRAHAM WATKINS – SPEAK TO OUR DEDICATED HOUSTON MARITIME LAWYERS TODAY! At Abraham Watkins, we have been serving the state of Texas for over 70 years, making us one of the longest-serving law firms across the state. As soon as you call, we can assign a dedicated Houston offshore accident attorney to your case, one experienced in helping victims seek financial compensation following a wide range of offshore accidents.
At Abraham Watkins, we have a team of maritime attorneys that can help you at every stage of your case. We know how difficult and stressful it can be to be injured at work and have to worry about paying for all of your costs. Because of this, we want to help you file a claim under the right maritime law to get you compensated for your injuries and ensure that your rights are protected. Call us today to speak with a Houston maritime lawyer from our law firm at 713-535-9319.
HOUSTON, GALVESTON, AND GULF COAST TEXAS ADMIRALTY & MARITIME LAWYER
Maritime law, sometimes called admiralty law, is a set of laws that applies to maritime workers, employers, and people injured. Generally, the laws govern all maritime accidents and events that occur on the high seas, such as oil platform accidents, dredge accidents, and cargo ship accidents. The ‘high seas’ refers to water beyond the territorial waters of a country or state. Maritime law also applies to territorial water that is within 12 miles of the shore.
WHAT IS MARITIME LAW? Maritime law is a group of laws that are specific to maritime workers and their employers, as well as other companies and individuals that work out at sea. They govern what happens following oil platform accidents, dredge accidents, and cargo ship accidents, as well as any other form of an accident on navigable waters, including at high sea.
The “High Seas” refer to any body of water that is beyond the normal territorial waters of a country or state. Maritime law also covers territorial water if it is located within 12 miles of the shore.
These laws are some of the oldest laws that still stand in the United States, and this can make them extremely difficult to navigate. Over the past 50 years, there have been many amendments and attempts to modernize these laws but many of them are still complicated and will require a skilled maritime attorney to decipher.
NAVIGABLE WATERS: Traditionally, maritime law only applied to accidents and events that occurred on the high seas; however, it now applies to all “navigable waters” in the United States. Defining navigable waters under the law can sometimes be confusing, and most of the law that we use today is based on previous cases attempting to offer a clearer definition.
This means that any body of water that allows trade between any state or foreign power is classified as navigable water.
Currently, navigable water is defined as water that can act as a “continued highway over which commerce is or may be carried on with other States or foreign countries.”. So, if a body of water enables trade or commerce with another state or a foreign country, it is governed by maritime law. Bodies of water that are part of greater “navigable waters” will also be governed by maritime law, even if they do not directly connect to another state or country.
As such, a body of water that is closed off by a larger piece of land, or ‘land-locked’, will be governed by state law rather than federal maritime law.
WHERE ARE MARITIME CASES HEARD IN HOUSTON, TEXAS? Texas state maritime law is based entirely on federal law, as provided by Article III Section 2 of the United States Constitution. As such, the federal courts have jurisdiction over all cases involving
