Losing a family member in an accident far out at sea is devastating, and the law that governs that loss is often harsher and narrower than families expect. Here, in plain terms, is how the Death on the High Seas Act works and what it means for your family. In short: The Death on the…
One word can decide whether an injured maritime worker has powerful rights or almost none, and that word is “vessel.” Here is exactly how the term vessel under maritime law is defined and why that definition controls so much of an offshore injury case. In short: Under maritime law, a vessel is any watercraft or…
An injured cruise ship crew member faces a question most injured workers never do: not just how much the claim is worth, but whether it will be decided by a U.S. jury or by a private arbitrator in another country applying another nation’s law. That fork in the road, set by a clause buried in…
If you were hurt working as a civilian contractor overseas, the Defense Base Act is the law that pays you, and the question you most want answered is what your claim is worth. The honest answer is that there is no single number, but the ranges, the benefit formula, and the factors that move a…
When a family asks what a maritime wrongful death case is worth, the honest first answer is a question: where did the death happen, and was the worker a seaman? Those two facts decide which law applies, and the law decides what the case can pay, often before any number is negotiated. In short: Maritime…
If you were hurt working on an offshore oil or gas platform, the single most important question is not how badly you were injured. It is which law covers you, because that one answer decides whether you are a Jones Act seaman, a Longshore Act claimant, or someone borrowing the law of the nearest state….
Few questions in maritime law are misunderstood as often as this one: when can an injured seaman, or a grieving family, recover punitive damages on top of their losses? The honest answer is that maritime law treats punitive damages as a powerful but narrow remedy, available for some claims and flatly barred for others. In…
If you were hurt working on a vessel, the Jones Act is not your only path to compensation. Maritime law gives every seaman a second, and often stronger, claim: the right to a seaworthy vessel. When the ship, its equipment, or its crew is not fit for the job and that failure injures you, the…
In maritime law there is no single filing deadline. The maritime statute of limitations that controls your case depends on who you are, what kind of claim you have, and where you were hurt, and missing the right one can permanently bar an otherwise winning case. In short: The maritime statute of limitations is the…
If a dock, shipyard, or harbor injury has put you out of work, almost every dollar of your Longshore Act compensation traces back to a single number: your average weekly wage. Getting that number right is the difference between full benefits and quiet, long-term underpayment. In short: Under the LHWCA, your average weekly wage (AWW)…
