So, what does maritime mean, anyway? Literally, maritime regards anything connected with the sea. This can be applied to commercial shipping and transporting or military activity. The set of laws governing maritime activity are known as admiralty law, a term used interchangeably with maritime law.
Maritime law does differ from the Law of the Sea, which governs international trade, mineral rights, jurisdiction over coastal waters, treaties and relations between countries. Admiralty cases are more local in concept, involving civil suits, individuals, companies and representatives of those companies.
When to Call a Maritime Lawyer
The quick answer to the question of when you should call a lawyer after an accident at sea is “as soon as your ship docks in Houston.” If you have cell phone / Wi-Fi access and the privilege of making personal phone calls onboard, call or contact an attorney as soon as you can. If your ship allows workers to make personal calls, the management cannot take action against you if you use your time to call an attorney!
A common mistake some workers make is trying to appear to be a “team” player who doesn’t want to stir things up with the threat of a lawsuit. There could be quite a price to pay in order to protect an image that won’t even benefit you in the long run. A lot of Houston maritime workers – or former workers who can’t work anymore – wish they had called an attorney promptly after their accident.
Don’t try to determine by yourself if you have a case worth filing, despite all the blogs and websites that try to advise you on a DIY courtroom strategy. Make the smart move and call an attorney. Patrick Daniel has won so many admiralty cases that he can generally recognize a winnable case in just the first few minutes of a free consultation. If Patrick Daniel Law accepts your case, the legal fee will come out of the final settlement, and you will have no out-of-pocket expense.
The Merchant Marine Act / Jones Act of 1920
Once you sail out of Houston and leave the national boundaries of the United States, even if you’re a U.S. citizen employed by a U.S. based company on a ship registered in the U.S., some laws designed for your protection no longer apply. Fortunately, other laws move into play that restore some of those protections, but in a different manner.
One such law is the Merchant Marine Act. It is an expansive law that includes regulations governing maritime commerce in U.S. waters between U.S. ports. Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, known as the Jones Act, requires that commerce between U.S. ports be transported only by American-built vessels. The Merchant Marine Act and the Jones Act are often used synonymously, but in actuality, the Jones Act is a part of the Merchant Marine Act.
The Jones Act also includes provisions that have seafaring workers’ rights at their core. Those provisions include (among many others):
The owner of the vessel must use reasonable care to maintain it for safety and seaworthiness. The owner can be found liable if it is found negligent and the negligence led to an injury.
Qualifying sailors (officially classified as seamen) who have suffered injuries or illness while at sea can recover appropriate compensation from their employers, by lawsuit if necesssary. The notion of a vessel’s seaworthiness is extremely important, as it can move a case from one where the best outcome would be the recovery of basic expenses (called maintenance and cure) to one where all of the victim’s losses are recoverable.
