A San Antonio offshore injury lawyer can help determine whether the Jones Act, LHWCA, OCSLA, or another maritime law applies after an offshore accident. The answer depends on your job duties, vessel connection, and where the injury happened.
That classification can affect whether you may sue your employer, receive federal benefits, or pursue claims against other responsible parties.
The NMW Law Firm handles offshore injury claims for workers who live in San Antonio and work in the Gulf of Mexico. Call (210) 265-6565 for a free consultation before signing forms or giving a recorded statement.
How Does the NMW Law Firm Handle San Antonio Offshore Injury Claims?
We take on Jones Act, OCSLA, and LHWCA claims for offshore workers based in San Antonio and the surrounding South Texas region, as part of our broader San Antonio personal injury practice.
The first conversation is about your actual job, your vessel or platform assignments, and the paperwork you have already received. That conversation determines which legal framework applies to your case.
Filing From San Antonio for a Gulf Injury
San Antonio-based offshore workers are usually not tied to Bexar County for venue purposes. Jones Act claims may be filed in state or federal court when the legal requirements are met, and the saving-to-suitors clause preserves certain state-court rights for maritime plaintiffs.
Choice of venue affects the size of the jury pool, the applicable procedural rules, and the pace of the case. Venue and forum considerations that come up in San Antonio-based offshore cases include the following:
- Whether to file in federal court under admiralty jurisdiction or in state court under the saving-to-suitors clause
- Whether Bexar County, Harris County, or a coastal county offers the strongest jury pool for the specific case
- Whether Louisiana state court is available if the vessel operated out of a Louisiana port
- Whether a forum-selection clause in the employment contract restricts the available courts
Working Around Your Hitch Schedule
Offshore workers on rotational schedules cannot always be present for depositions, medical exams, and case-management conferences during their weeks at sea. Our office coordinates litigation activity around hitch schedules where possible.
NMW Law Firm handles bilingual case communication in English and Spanish. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and results depend on the facts of each case.
Are You a Jones Act Seaman or Under Workers' Compensation?
You are a Jones Act seaman if your work contributes to the function or mission of a vessel in navigation and you have a substantial connection to that vessel in both duration and nature.
The Supreme Court set that two-part test in Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis, 515 U.S. 347 (1995). Seaman status helps determine whether you can sue your employer under the Jones Act or whether another benefit system, such as the LHWCA, may apply.
Which side you land on determines whether you may sue your employer for negligence or whether you are limited to a schedule of benefits.
The 30 Percent Benchmark
As a general rule, a worker who spends less than about 30 percent of their work time serving a vessel in navigation usually does not qualify as a seaman.
Workers who spend most of their time serving a vessel are more likely to qualify. Workers who spend most of their time on land, on a fixed platform, or doing shore-based work usually do not.
Time offshore is not the whole test. The Fifth Circuit sharpened the "nature" prong in Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas, 997 F.3d 564 (5th Cir. 2021) (en banc), holding that a welder assigned to a jack-up rig did not qualify as a seaman.
The Fifth Circuit said exposure to the dangers of the sea is only part of the test. Courts also look at the worker’s connection to the vessel, whether the work is sea-based, and whether the vessel assignment is temporary or ongoing.
Offshore job categories that commonly meet the seaman test include:
- Deckhands and mates on tugboats, supply vessels, and crew boats
- Tankermen and pumpmen on inland and coastal barges
- Cooks and stewards assigned to a vessel or fleet
- Drilling crew assigned to a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) in navigation
- Commercial fishing crew on shrimp and menhaden vessels operating out of Gulf ports
Why Employers Push the Workers' Comp Route
Under the LHWCA, an injured worker may receive medical and disability benefits and usually cannot sue the employer for negligence.
Under the Jones Act, the same worker may sue for pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, and other damages no comp system pays.
That is why the paperwork you get after an injury often assumes you are not a seaman. A lawyer looking at your actual job duties may reach a different conclusion.
What Should You Know Before Signing the Injury Paperwork?
Signing the wrong form early may cost you the case later.
Companies commonly hand injured offshore workers a document called a Statement of Injured Person or a similar recorded statement request, and your answers may be used to argue you were not a seaman, that the injury preexisted the incident, or that you were at fault.
You are not required to sign these documents on the spot.
What to Watch For
Employers and their insurers pursue several recurring tactics in the days after an offshore injury:
- Requests for a written or recorded statement before you have talked to a lawyer
- Offers of small maintenance checks that establish a payment history at a below-market rate
- Pressure to see the company doctor rather than a physician of your own choosing
- Presentation of workers' compensation forms as the only option available to you
- Statements from supervisors suggesting the incident was your fault or was not work-related
A seaman may receive reasonable medical treatment as part of maintenance and cure, but disputes can arise over the doctor, the need for treatment, and the cost. Getting a legal opinion before making these choices is generally a good idea.
Past Case Results
What Does Maintenance and Cure Actually Cover?
Maintenance and cure is a no-fault benefit that a Jones Act seaman may receive from the employer while recovering from an injury that arose in the service of the vessel.
Maintenance pays a daily rate for room and board while you cannot work. Cure covers reasonable medical expenses related to the injury until you reach maximum medical improvement.
The Maintenance Rate Problem
Employers often pay maintenance at rates that have not been updated in decades. Where no collective bargaining agreement applies, some employers offer $15, $20, or $30 per day, which does not reflect what it actually costs to live in San Antonio. A seaman may challenge an unreasonably low maintenance rate.
When Cure Ends
Cure continues until you reach maximum medical improvement, meaning further treatment will not improve your condition. If the employer cuts off cure prematurely, that may be a basis for additional damages.
If an employer willfully and wantonly refuses to provide maintenance and cure, punitive damages may be available under Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009).
What Maintenance and Cure Does Not Do
Maintenance and cure is not a replacement for a negligence claim. It pays basic living costs and medical bills, not pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, or the full value of your case.
A separate Jones Act negligence claim may recover categories of damages that maintenance and cure does not touch, including the long-term losses common in catastrophic injury claims:
- Pain and suffering from the injury and its long-term effects
- Lost past earnings above what maintenance covers
- Loss of future earning capacity if the injury ends your ability to work offshore
- Mental anguish tied to the injury and recovery
- Loss of found, meaning the value of housing, meals, and other in-kind compensation you would have earned aboard the vessel
What If You Were Hurt on a Platform, Not a Vessel?
You may not be a Jones Act seaman if you work primarily on a fixed platform, but that does not leave you without options. Workers injured on fixed offshore platforms often have claims under OCSLA or the LHWCA, each of which provides different remedies.
OCSLA and Fixed Platforms
OCSLA at 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq. covers workers on fixed structures on the Outer Continental Shelf, including many Gulf of Mexico oil and gas platforms.
OCSLA generally borrows the law of the adjacent state as surrogate federal law. For most Gulf platforms adjacent to Texas, that means Texas law may govern the negligence claim.
Common OCSLA fact patterns for South Texas offshore workers include:
- Crush and struck-by injuries during drilling operations on fixed platforms
- Falls from elevated walkways, stairs, and pipe racks on production platforms
- Chemical burns and inhalation injuries during processing operations
- Crane and rigging accidents during equipment transfers between platforms
- Third-party contractor injuries where the OCSLA worker's employer differs from the platform operator
LHWCA Coverage
The LHWCA at 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. is a federal workers' compensation system covering longshoremen, harbor workers, ship repairers, and certain offshore workers not classified as seamen.
LHWCA benefits include medical care and wage replacement, but the statute limits direct suits against the employer. LHWCA claimants may still pursue third-party negligence claims against parties other than the employer, and those claims may involve substantial damages.
The table below compares the three main legal frameworks that apply to offshore workers.
| Framework | Who It Covers | Employer Negligence Claim | Types of Damages |
| Jones Act | Seamen with substantial vessel connection | Yes, against employer | Negligence damages; qualifying seamen may also have separate maintenance-and-cure and other maritime claims |
| LHWCA | Longshoremen, harbor workers, non-seaman offshore workers | Generally no direct suit against employer | Medical and disability benefits, plus possible third-party claims |
| OCSLA/LHWCA | Qualifying workers injured during OCS operations | Generally no negligence suit against the employer; third-party claims may be available | Usually no negligence claim against the employer, but third-party claims may be available | LHWCA benefits plus possible third-party damages |
Which framework applies to your case may not be obvious from the incident report alone. Classification often depends on where you spent your working time in the months before the injury, not on where the injury happened.
How Long Do You Have to File an Offshore Injury Case?
The Jones Act statute of limitations is three years from the date of the injury under 46 U.S.C. § 30106. Maintenance and cure claims may follow a different accrual and limitations analysis.
LHWCA and OCSLA claims may have shorter or different filing requirements depending on the specific facts, and fatal offshore accidents may give rise to wrongful death claims under separate rules. The wrong assumption about which framework applies may cost you the case.
Three years may sound like plenty of time, but offshore cases turn on evidence that becomes harder to reach as time passes. Vessel voyage records, crew logs, safety meeting minutes, maintenance records, and eyewitness recollection all decay.
Filing earlier gives your lawyer more room to preserve records and identify witnesses while the incident is still fresh.
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FAQs for San Antonio Offshore Injury Lawyers
Do I have to sue in Texas if I got hurt in the Gulf of Mexico?
Not necessarily. Offshore injury cases may be filed in different courts depending on where you live, where you were injured, where the vessel or platform is based, and which framework applies.
Jones Act claims may be filed in state or federal court when the legal requirements are met, while the saving-to-suitors clause protects certain state-court remedies.
What if the injury happened on a boat working out of Louisiana?
Some Gulf of Mexico injuries involve Texas-based workers hurt on vessels operating out of Louisiana ports. Louisiana law, Texas law, or general maritime law may apply depending on the vessel's status, the location of the incident, and the choice-of-law rules.
Different states value damages differently, so which law applies can significantly affect case value.
Can I still get maintenance and cure if I am partly at fault?
Yes. Maintenance and cure is a no-fault benefit under general maritime law and applies regardless of whether the seaman was partly at fault. Comparative fault may reduce a Jones Act negligence recovery, but it does not eliminate maintenance and cure.
Employers sometimes suggest that fault ends these benefits, which is not accurate under longstanding maritime law.
What if the company doctor says I can go back to work?
The company doctor's opinion is not the final word on your medical status. A seaman may receive reasonable medical care as part of cure, but the employer may dispute whether treatment from a specific doctor is reasonable or necessary.
If the company doctor's release conflicts with your treating physician's assessment, that conflict may be resolved through the legal process, not by the company's unilateral decision.
Get a Straight Answer About Your Offshore Injury Claim
If your employer’s explanation does not match your understanding of your job or injury, an independent review may clarify which maritime law applies.
Maritime injury law is one of the few areas where a basic question, which statute governs your claim, turns on facts your employer often will not lay out clearly. A lawyer in this area may look at your job history and reach a different conclusion than your safety manager did.
San Antonio offshore and maritime accident lawyers at NMW review Jones Act, LHWCA, and OCSLA cases at no charge. There is no obligation to file. Call (210) 265-6565 for a straight answer on which framework applies to your job.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship with the NMW Law Firm. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and results vary based on the facts of each case. Nicholas M. Wills is the attorney responsible for the content of this page. Principal office: 3 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1575, Houston, TX 77046.