Helping You

If you have been injured on an American flagged vessel due to the negligence of the ship’s owner, its captain or a fellow crewmate, then you need to discuss your situation with a Jones Act attorney. We are prepared to do whatever is needed to help you. We would recommend you not “trust” the advice of anyone before you speak with an attorney. There may be several competing interests wanting to influence what you say and do.  You are likely in pain and need help – let Tim Edwards and Ed Wallis help you.

Answering Your Questions

You may be asking yourself several questions:

• How am I going to pay for my injuries?
• How am I going to afford an attorney?
• Why am I being told where to go to the doctor?
• Is everyone really acting in my best interests?
• Who can I trust?

As a Jones Act attorney, we would like to answer these questions for you. We will come to you for the meeting, and we will come to your home or hospital if needed. We are here to help, and are willing to go the extra mile to make this situation easier for you. Remember that we work on a contingency fee, so there is no fee to us if there is no recovery. Call (901) 527-2125 or (901) 275-0600 after hours. You can also FILL OUT THE FORM TO THE RIGHT.

The Jones Act

The Jones Act is a special piece of legislation that protects the rights of most injured marine workers who suffer an injury on the job. The Act requires you to have suffered this injury “in the normal course and scope of work” as a result of someone else’s negligence. It formalizes the long held traditions of maintenance and cure. While these principles have been around for many years, the federal government finally enacted legislation to protect your rights. This resulted in the Jones Act.

The Jones Act was originally referred to as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. Its effect is codifying federal maritime law protections for injured workers that had been established for centuries. It allows workers who have been injured in the course of work on American flagged vessels through the negligence of a ship-owner, captain or fellow employee a federally recognized protection to recover compensation for damages. Because you are reading this, it is likely you. We would be honored to talk to you about your case.

The Jones Act is favorable to an injured worker. It applies to deck hands, engineers, third mates, second mates, first mates, relief captains, captains, roustabouts, roughnecks, drillers, pilots, tanker man, anchor tenders and basically all persons that are involved in the maritime offshore industry. It applies to the fishing, fishery, canning, shrimping, oil field, dredging, barge, tugboat, towboat, crew boat, supply boat and other maritime offshore industries.

The Jones Act applies to any seaman that injures himself or herself while in the course and scope of employment, i.e., hurt on the job. There is not workers compensation for a seaman hurt offshore. If you are hurt offshore, instead of workmans’ compensation, there is Maintenance and Cure. The Maintenance is very low and is a per day payment. It is sometimes as low as $8.00 a day and sometimes as high as $35.00 a day. The Cure is medical care. However, most the time, the company will send you to their company doctor who is not really interested in finding out all your injuries and places you fit for duty when you really are not.

Many times workers will hurt their feet, knees, hip, back, neck, spine, head, arms, elbow, hand and fingers. Sometimes they will hurt multiple areas of their body but the company doctor will not perform the necessary tests, such as an MRI, to determine the full extent of the offshore injuries.

There are a number of different types of vessels covered under the Jones Act including: fishing vessels, barges, supply boats, dredges, jack up rigs and crew boats. You may be working in a number of locations – on a barge on the Mississippi River, on a crew boat off the Gulf Coast near Louisiana or Texas, on a fishing vessel off the coast of Mississippi or Florida, a tugboat worker on the Tennessee River or Ohio River or more. We would be honored to discuss your potential claim with you.

Types of Injuries

While the injury you may have suffered could be different than these discussed below, the following are common injuries:

• Back injury
• Neck injury
• Shoulder injury
• Knee injury
• Slipping and falling injuries
• Crushing injuries
• Joint injury

You may also have a claim because of injuries you received as a result of a faulty piece of equipment.  There is a principle of maritime law called “an unseaworthy condition” which is when equipment breaks or is in some way a cause to an accident. This includes if equipment is not fit for its intended purpose. When we say equipment, the term is very broad, but can include cranes, personnel baskets, transfer baskets, ladders, berths, bunks, cranes, ropes, taglines, lines, radars, radios, valves, cables, decks, winches, pulleys, ratchets, vests, gunnels, transoms, rigging, drilling fluids, pipes, lights, flashlights, hatches, anchors, and hulls.

Your situation may involve a fellow crewmember who is the cause of the accident.  Under the Jones Law, you are still permitted to recover for this as well.  If the captain runs aground, or runts into jetties from not observing the buoys or channel markets, or someone misreads a chart, there can be injuries.  It could be that someone leaves a puddle of grease or oil out and there is a slip and fall.  Someone may inadvertently fall into a hatch that was left open. There are too many examples to list them all, but this is where we are here to help.

Damages

You could be entitled to damages including cash compensation. Recovery includes medical treatment for reasonable and necessary reasons, including herniated discs, laminectomies, fusion, joint repair, torn rotator cuff, knee arthroscopy, broken bones, amputation, severe burns, and more.

The Jones Act also provides for compensation if your loved one died while working on a vessel. Again, there is no definition for a “vessel” so it includes virtually every type of vessel imaginable, including barges on the Mississippi River, tug boats on the Ohio River, fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico, crew boats off the coast of Texas, floaters, platforms and more.

Proud to Represent You

The work of a seaman is some of the most dangerous work in the world. It takes courage, determination and a strong work ethic to succeed in maritime professions, and the hazards are as great as the sense of adventure.  The Jones Act is a way to protect the seaman.

We know you are proud of what you do, and your job. We know you did not seek out injury and discomfort, and that you would do anything you could to not be in this position (which includes pain, suffering, inconvenience, financial struggles, physical pain and more).

We would be honored to discuss your case with you, no matter where you are and no matter whether you are a seamen, longshoremen or maritime.

Time Limitation

There are time limitations that govern people injured under the Jones Act. Generally speaking it is 3 years from date of Injury, but we recommend you contact us as soon as you are injured so we can try and help you.

For More Information

Please contact us for a free case evaluation and consultation today:

Tim Edwards / Ed Wallis
Glassman Edwards Wade & Wyatt
26 N. 2nd Street
Memphis, TN 38103
(901) 527-2125
(901) 275-0600 (after hours / weekends)
EMAIL BY CLICKING HERE

Or please fill out this form, and we will immediately contact you: