Today's maritime workers participate in one of the oldest and proudest industries in America. Since we were just English colonies, the United States was built on men and women working aboard ships, in harbors, and on the docks. Many of our founding fathers were maritime lawyers, and some of our nation's founding documents were responses to the "admiralty laws" of the day—another term for maritime law.
One of the most important principles in maritime law, a principle that has existed for hundreds of years, is the rule of maintenance and cure. The rule of maintenance and cure demands that a shipowner or captain must provide for an injured seaman's living expenses and medical care if he or she was injured while working on the ship. Even today, our Beaumont maritime lawyers continue to fight for offshore workers' maintenance and cure while they recover.
Arnold & Itkin LLP fights for offshore workers because they need help; companies often use underhanded tactics to convince them to give up their right to better treatment or more recovery funds. Outside of maritime lawyers, few people know about these tactics. If you think your company is trying to keep you from getting the care and compensation you need, call (888) 346-5024 for a free review of your case by a Beaumont maritime accident lawyer.
Offshore work, whether it's in a harbor, on a freight vessel, or on an oil rig, is dangerous. The most dangerous job in America for years was commercial fishing, and working on a drilling rig is seven times more likely to get you hurt than the average U.S. job. That's why the law holds vessel owners and managers responsible for the safety of the ship—by making it their responsibility, lawmakers hope that offshore vessels will be held to a higher safety standard, thus preventing hundreds of injuries that incur steep costs for victims' families and communities.
Without holding offshore companies accountable, workers will more often suffer injuries from:
However, that's not always the case. Some companies feel comfortable with the relatively small citations and fines for unsafe rigs and ships—increasing the likelihood of suffering an offshore injury. When that happens, it's up to injured workers to file claims against their companies to hold them accountable, and it's up to maritime attorneys to ensure that the verdict or settlement a.) provides for the seaman's needs, and b.) successfully deters the company from ignoring safety ever again, ensuring the safety of future workers.
Oil rig workers are some of the hardest-working people in the offshore industry. They live full-time on a rig for two weeks at a time, working for 12 hours a day on a daily basis six months out of the year. However, the work is fulfilling and pays well, so there's never a lack of people looking to join a rotation. Unfortunately, spaces often open up for tragic reasons—working on a drilling rig is 7 times more dangerous than the average workplace.
The Beaumont oil rig accident lawyers at Arnold & Itkin have helped hundreds of oil rig workers get the money they needed after getting injured—money to get medical care and provide for their families.
In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, a BP-owned oil rig, was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico when a malfunctioning blowout preventer caused an explosion. The blast and subsequent fire killed 11 workers and injured 17. Over a third of the victims came to our oil rig explosion lawyers asking for help because they were being treated unfairly—some of them were even asked to sign papers before seeing a doctor. We helped them secure the funds needed to provide for their extensive injuries, as well as provide for their lost income and lost earning capacity.
Centuries of maritime law created a complex system where most legal principles were decided by cases that happened as far back as medieval times. While maintenance and cure were strong principles guiding cases, Congress also passed four laws—unique to the U.S.—to protect the offshore industry and its workers.
Click on any of the below laws to learn how they affect your case:
Of these 4 laws, the most powerful is the Jones Act. It stipulates that when a seaman is injured by negligence, they're entitled to recover lost wages, lost earning ability, mental anguish, pain and suffering, living expenses, and medical care. Our Beaumont Jones Act lawyers have filed hundreds of these claims on behalf of injured seamen, helping them get everything they needed to put their lives back together.
If you were injured while working offshore, you need someone who is watching out for you. Your company is likely already on the defensive and is looking for ways to limit your recovery. If that sounds far-fetched, watch how they respond when you ask for financial help—a lot of these companies will have you sign paper after paper to ensure that you don't actually ask for the amount you're entitled to as a Jones Act seaman (or any other kind of worker). Our Beaumont maritime lawyers make sure your company is unable to pull any tricks on you.
Call (888) 346-5024 or contact us online to get a free review of your case. Arnold & Itkin never letsour clients see an invoice or a bill—everything needed for your case will be covered by our firm, so you have nothing to lose.
Arnold & Itkin represented nearly a third of the crewmembers injured in the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Because maritime law is so complex and so complicated, it is crucial that you work with an attorney who has an in-depth understanding of how it works and who has proven themselves in similar cases before.
