Longshoreman Injuries

The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) is managed by the Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation (DLHWC) and is a federal law that provides for the payment of:

• Medical care
• Compensation
• Vocational rehabilitation

For covered employees who are disabled as a result of on-the-job injuries that happen on U.S. navigable waters or adjoining areas that are customarily utilized for the loading, unloading, repairing, and building of a vessel, covered injuries are not limited to those that happen in accidents but also include occupational diseases, illnesses, and hearing loss that result from employment.

As clarified by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), employees who are engaged in traditional maritime occupations are covered under the Act, including:

• Longshore workers
• Shipbuilders or ship-breakers
• Ship repairers
• Harbor construction workers

To be covered, it is necessary that the work happens on the navigable waters of the United States or in adjoining areas, including:

• Terminals
• Wharves
• Docks
• Piers
• Areas used for the loading and unloading of vessels

Some non-maritime employees may also be covered by the LHWCA, depending on whether they perform their work on navigable water and whether their injuries happen there.

If you have lost a loved one to an accident on the job while they were engaging in covered work under the LHWCA, you are entitled to payment of survivor benefits in certain situations. When a work injury causes or was a contributing factor to a longshoreman or other covered employee's death, their surviving family may be entitled to survivor benefits. The LHWCA notes that survivor benefits are generally paid by the self-insured employer of the longshoreman killed on the job or through a private insurance company on behalf of the employer.

The damages you are entitled to fall under three broad categories: compensation, medical care, and vocational rehabilitation. Compensation covers lost wages that happen as a result of your injuries and could also include longer-term costs like an inability to earn due to disability from your injuries. Medical care includes not only present care like the emergency room but also the future care that your injuries will require. Depending on the extent of your injuries, you may also be eligible to receive training to work in other industries if your injuries cause you to be unable to continue in maritime work.

The amount that your case is worth will depend on the evidence that you gather and file with your claim. You can only collect compensation that you can prove with evidence. As explained by the U.S. Department of Labor, you’ll generally be applying to collect your benefits (or survivor benefits if you lost a loved one) with the insurance company of the employer. Insurance companies work for profit, and profits are increased by decreasing costs, like payments made to injured persons like you. Your case is worth what you can prove and what can be negotiated for with the insurance company. Alternatively, whatever you can convince a judge or jury that you are owed if the insurance company will not cover your claim is what you can collect. An experienced longshoreman injury attorney can help support the best possible outcome in your case.

When you are injured on the job and require the assistance of an attorney, you will generally require the assistance of a personal injury attorney that handles workers’ compensation cases. While most personal injury attorneys will be willing to take your case if you may be entitled to damages, few personal injury attorneys have direct experience with longshoreman injury cases like Brais Law Firm. The longshoreman injury lawyers from Brais Injury Law have decades of combined experience representing injured seamen and other longshoremen and can do so in a way unlike any other personal injury law firm in the field. Founding partner Mr. Keith Brais is a board-certified Florida Bar specialist in admiralty and maritime law, and we know what it takes to win your specific case.

While many of our potential clients worry about the cost of working with an attorney, it is essential to understand that your initial consultation is free. During your initial consultation, some preliminary information will be collected in order to help our intake specialist determine if you have a case that fits with our firm. Once we have collected some basic information, you’ll have a discussion with an attorney to determine the merits of your case. If you have a viable case, we will then present an offer of representation containing the full terms of our potential attorney-client relationship.

Typically, when we take an injury case, you will pay nothing up-front and nothing out-of-pocket, ever. This is because we generally take longshoreman injury cases on contingency, which means we only get paid if we win your case. Our payment comes out of a portion of the earnings that we generate for you, which we’ll agree upon before getting started. Your initial consultation with a longshoreman injury attorney at Brais Injury Law is free, and if we take your case, you may not have to pay anything out-of-pocket. Reach out as soon as possible to set a time to discuss your case and learn if we can help you make the most of your compensation.