Jones Act

The attorneys at the Buzbee Law Firm represent clients in legal issues relating to the sea, including shipping, marine cargo, and workers injured at sea-on navigable waters, or while working in a harbor. They have extensive expertise in the requirements of the Jones Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.

The Jones Act protects crew members of a vessel in the event they are injured. This law applies to inland river workers and offshore crew members who work on jack-ups, semi-submersibles, barges, drill ships, tugs and towboats, crew boats, dredges, floating cranes, tankers, cargo ships, fishing vessels, chemical ships, research vessels, construction barges, diving vessels, cruise ships, recreational boats, and other floating or movable vessels.

Seminars & Recent Developments

• Judge awards $518,000 to injured oil rig worker
• High Court Says Barges, Tugs Fall Under OSHA Safety Rules
• Lawsuit Claims Ship Operators Exposing Workers to Asbestos
• Like Price Fixing, Wage Fixing Illegal
• Roughnecks Wrangle for More Money

Representative Matters

• The Buzbee Law Firm has represented hundreds of workers in Jones Act claims in Texas and Louisiana.  The firm has represented workers of all job functions. 
• The firm is currently representing or has represented more than 60 injured dredge workers in suits throughout the State of Texas.
• The firm has represented more than 20 shrimp boat workers who were injured on the job.
• The firm has represented a class of offshore workers who alleged that their wages had been suppressed by their employers, and that case resulted in a settlement for the class.
• The firm represented a class of maritime workers on claims that their workplace was riddled with asbestos; that case also resulted in a settlement to the class.
• The firm represented a widow whose husband died on a ship after becoming ill and after his employer failed to arrange for medical treatement.
• The firm was hired to file suit on behalf of the estate of a young offshore worker who was found dead tangled in the spokes of a large hose reel on a drilling rig.  The suit resulted in a financial settlement to the estate, and as part of settlement, the defendant agreed to install a reel guard in an effort to prevent incidents like this.
• In one of his first trials, Tony Buzbee represented the estate of an offshore worker who was killed while working aboard a drilling rig off the coast of Saudi Arabia, when a pipe exploded.  The case resulted in a jury verdict against the defendant.  In the course of the lawsuit, Buzbee uncovered a deadly problem with piping used in the drilling industry and, as result of the suit, that problem has now been corrected in the industry.