Houston Maritime Law Attorneys: Assisting With Maritime Product Liability Claims
Houston Maritime Law Attorneys: Assisting With Maritime Product Liability Claims - At Patrick Daniel Law, our Houston marine injury attorneys are well equipped to handle the complex marine injury cases that other Houston law firms find more difficult. Houston maritime injury law, also known as admiralty law, has many quirks and inconsistencies. It takes an experienced marine injury attorney to be able to spot these inconsistencies, and we get every case that makes it to our Houston law office.
Houston's marine workers are at the receiving end of some maritime issues. In some marine injury cases, they have some advantages. But only a skilled Houston maritime attorney will be able to figure it all out. So, whether you are in Houston, Harris County, Pasadena, Baytown or outlying areas, if you have been injured at sea and are in need of a Houston marine injury attorney, Patrick Daniel Law is here to help. Contact our Houston maritime attorneys for a FREE consultation.
Houston Maritime Law Attorneys: Assisting With Maritime Product Liability Claims
Patrick Daniel is an icon among Houston attorneys, achieving distinction through 20 years of maritime law in Houston, Texas and around the Gulf Coast.
Maritime Rights Overview
Patrick Daniel has litigated maritime injury cases from all angles and has extensive experience, not only in the form of ongoing Houston maritime law cases, but also in ongoing work at sea with the employees of hundreds of Houston maritime companies.
Here is a brief list of the types of Houston maritime injury cases he has handled in Texas and elsewhere:
If you have suffered a maritime injury in Houston similar to the above, and would like a free consultation with our Houston maritime lawyers, or to learn more about Houston maritime law services, please call (713) 999-6666 or contact us online.
Houston is more than oil and aerospace. A recent survey showed that Houston, TX is the No. 2 city in the nation for ocean-related jobs by cargo movement between U.S. ports. Only nearby New Orleans has more workers in the shipping industry. When you add workers from all Texas ports, it ranks Texas as the No. 3 state in the U.S.
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The Port of Houston includes more than 200 public and private docks, handling over 822,000 ocean liners and 25,000 cruise ships each year. Thousands of marine workers call the Houston area home.
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that there are a number of marine injury cases in Houston. Seafarers who have been injured at sea do not have many of the same resources that workers on land do, and often need to hire a Houston marine injury attorney to protect their rights and help them recover losses resulting from their marine injuries.
Maritime lawyers in Houston are numerous, and they know admiralty law (maritime law) inside out, but knowledge is important. As a top marine injury attorney, founder Patrick Daniel has litigated hundreds of marine injury cases and has many successful clients.
But doing this requires more than a successful trial lawyer. The maritime profession is demanding, unforgiving and unstable, and any Houston, Texas attorney aspiring to represent maritime workers had better know the job than he knows the law. That's what sets Patrick Daniel Law ahead of other law firms in Houston, Texas. He knows the job. He grew up in Louisiana and has 20 years of experience litigating maritime cases - some of them from the other side of the courtroom.
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There are literally hundreds of shipping companies in Houston, and even though they say they value their employees and the sacrifices they make, it's only one that falls on a slippery slope or one that falls on the heavy seas from seeing how much or how little they really care.
If you are injured at sea, don't assume that your employer will adequately compensate you and make sure that your medical bills are covered. Any of the many Houston maritime attorneys will be quick to point out that the ball game changes drastically when an injury occurs. Not only that, but the rules are different for seafarers and ground crews. Defendants in maritime law courts try to hide behind the nuances of maritime law, hoping that the injured party is not quick on them.
For example, Workman's Comp does not apply to injuries sustained at sea. But thanks to the federal Jones Act, ship workers can sue their employers for compensation, and employers are responsible for providing safe working conditions and maintaining their ships so that they are safe and secure at sea.
So, what does maritime mean, anyway? Basically, boats are related to the sea. These can be used for commercial and transportation purposes or for military purposes. The legal framework governing maritime activities is known as admiralty law, a term used synonymously with maritime law.
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Maritime Law differs from the Law of the Sea, which governs international trade, mineral rights, jurisdiction over sea waters, treaties and international relations. Admiralty cases are more local in nature, involving suits by governments, individuals, companies and representatives of these companies.
The quick answer to the question of when you should call an attorney after a marine accident is "if your boat is docked in Houston." If you have cell phone / Wi-Fi access and the privilege of calling yourself on board, call or contact an attorney as soon as possible. If your ship allows employees to make personal calls, management cannot take action against you if you use your time to call a lawyer!
A common mistake some employees make is trying to act as a "team" player who doesn't want to stir things up with the threat of a lawsuit. There can be a huge price to pay in order to maintain an image that will not benefit you in the long run. Many Houston seafarers - or former seafarers - wish they had called an attorney sooner after their accident.
Don't try to figure out on your own if you have a case worth suing, even though all the blogs and websites try to give you advice on a DIY court case. Make a smart move and call a lawyer. Patrick Daniel has won so many admiralty cases that he can see a winning case in the first few minutes of a FREE consultation. If Patrick Daniel Law accepts your case, the legal fees will come out of the final settlement, and you will have no money out of pocket.
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Once you leave Houston by boat leaving the United States borders, even if you are a U.S. citizen employed by a U.S. company. on a vessel registered in the U.S., certain laws designed to protect you no longer apply. Fortunately, some rules come into play that restore some of the protection, but in a different way.
One such law is the Merchant Marine Act. The expanded law includes regulations that regulate maritime commerce in US waters between the US. Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, known as the Jones Act, requires that trade between US ports be carried only by American-built vessels. The Merchant Marine Act and the Jones Act are often used interchangeably, but in reality, the Jones Act is part of the Merchant Marine Act.
The Jones Act also includes provisions that have the rights of seafarers at their base. The provisions include (among many others):
The main provisions of the Jones Act apply to a special class of worker called the seafarer. Legal recognition is important to the system when injury claims are filed. But there is no binding definition of pilot anywhere in the Jones Act or the Merchant Marine Act.
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There is precedent, however, and maritime lawyers on both sides must review past cases to determine whether a plaintiff qualifies as a seafarer. Just being employed by one of the many companies in Houston and spending time at sea working that job is not enough to qualify as a sailor.
Instead of a legal definition, most maritime lawyers and judges tend to agree on the following definition, but the definition has undergone a metamorphosis of terms over the years, and is still being revised.
"Seamen means a person (other than scientific staff, a sailing school instructor or a sailing school student) who holds or is employed in any position on board a ship" (source).
That's fine and dandy, and an improvement on some of the tough definitions that preceded it, but the Jones Act goes back a bit, confirming that to qualify as a sailor, a worker must spend at least 30% of his time on board, outside of the sea. It is a point where opposing sides in an admiralty case can argue for hours. Without too much explanation to go by, however, it's often a stumbling block to the process.
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Workers who do not meet the terms of the seafarer's definition can still recover damages from the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LWHCA). This federal law allows for personal injury
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