The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA” or the “Longshore Act”) is a federal workers’ compensation scheme designed to provide coverage to maritime employees who are injured or killed in an incident “occurring upon the navigable waters of the United States (including any adjoining pier, wharf, dry dock, terminal, building way, marine railway, or…
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With warm weather returning and summer officially starting, Houstonians are starting to enjoy many of the nearby water recreational opportunities in large numbers. Many take advantage of the numerous lakes in the region for boating, swimming, and leisure. Unfortunately, the benefits of water recreation sometimes come with a cost. Injuries and deaths while boating happen…
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On February 6, 2022, a man named Michael Ramirez was working as a crew member aboard a shrimping vessel called the Lady Nora. The Lady Nora primarily is used for commercial shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas During the early morning hours, the Lady Nora was located approximately 7 miles…
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Recent investigations into the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) allege that deaths of offshore oil and gas workers frequently go unreported. Specifically, “inconsistent and missing data, as well as loopholes that allow some fatalities to go unreported, make the offshore industry appear safer than it really is.” Investigators allege that at least 30%…
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Like motorists, boat drivers have duties and responsibilities when operating boats in a safe manner. However, boating accidents are still a common occurrence, and damages stemming from these types of accidents can be substantial. Boat owners must make sure that crew members are trained and certified to operate commercial boats. They must also ensure that…
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The Fifth Circuit’s recent en banc decision in Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas, L.L.C., No. 19 20506,2021 WL 1882565 (5th Cir. May 11, 2021) upends 20 years of its own precedent and reformulates the seaman status analysis. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was a welder working on a jack up-rig. Sanchez had been onboard the second of two…
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In Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators, a unanimous, en banc decision of the 5th Circuit upended existing precedent in greatly narrowing the critical threshold issue of who qualifies as a seaman under the Jones Act. As one of the leading personal injury firms in the nation, and the longest operating in Texas, Abraham Watkins attorney Benny…
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The availability of emotional injury claims in maritime law is unsettled. As it stands, recovery of purely emotional injuries requires proof of an attendant physical injury—or at least emotional injuries that present with concurrent physical symptoms. But a recent decision from the 5th Circuit potentially expands the scope of cognizable emotional injury claims. In In…
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