Houston Maritime Lawyers

What Does a Houston Maritime Lawyer Do?

A maritime lawyer represents workers injured on or near the water under federal maritime law instead of state personal injury law or workers’ compensation. That distinction decides everything in your case: which court hears it, which deadlines apply, what compensation is available, and who can be held responsible. Maritime cases turn on federal statutes like the Jones Act, the Longshore & Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the Death on the High Seas Act, and the Limitation of Liability Act, on general maritime law doctrines like unseaworthiness and maintenance and cure, and on evidence that lives aboard vessels: logbooks, black boxes, and crews that scatter after every voyage.

That is why the lawyer you choose matters more in maritime cases than almost anywhere else. A personal injury generalist can miss the claim, the court, or the deadline that decides the outcome. We have practiced maritime law for more than two decades, and we have handled cases arising from every major offshore disaster in that time.

Which Maritime Law Covers Me?

Your duties and your connection to a vessel decide which law covers you. Your job title does not. Companies routinely classify workers in whichever direction costs them less, so treat this as a starting point and have a maritime lawyer confirm it.

Our Record in Maritime Cases

Why Houston Is Different for Maritime Cases

Houston is where American maritime law gets made. The Port of Houston is the busiest port in the country by total waterborne tonnage, the Houston Ship Channel moves petrochemical cargo around the clock, and the Gulf of Mexico’s offshore fields put thousands of Texans on vessels, rigs, and platforms every day. When those workers are hurt, their cases are filed in Harris and Galveston County courts and the federal courts of the Southern District of Texas, before judges and juries who see maritime cases regularly.

That concentration matters when you choose a lawyer. At Arnold & Itkin, we try cases in these courts, against the maritime defense firms based blocks from our office, for clients who worked the same waters. Our Houston office is at 6009 Memorial Drive, minutes from the courthouses where these cases are decided. And because injuries don’t stop at state lines, we represent maritime workers nationwide, with cases handled through our Dallas, Baton Rouge, San Antonio, Midland, and Albuquerque offices as well.

Common Maritime Injuries & Accidents We Handle

Maritime work produces injuries that land jobs rarely do, and they happen far from help. According to NIOSH, marine transportation workers die on the job at nearly six times the rate of all U.S. workers, and commercial fishing remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. We handle cases involving vessel collisions and capsizings, explosions and fires on rigs and barges, crane and winch failures, falls on wet decks and gangways, crush injuries from shifting cargo, diving accidents, and toxic exposure. The injuries that follow are catastrophic: severe burns, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, and drownings.

Two things make these cases different from land injuries. 

First, the treatment gap: when the nearest trauma center is hours away by helicopter, injuries worsen and the record of what happened gets written by the company before you reach shore. Second, the earning question: many maritime injuries end careers at sea, so the largest number in the case is usually future earning capacity. We prove that number with vocational experts, life-care planners, and economists.

Your Rights After a Maritime Injury

Three rights every injured maritime worker should use from day one. 

• You have the right to your own doctor; company-selected physicians may describe your injuries in the company’s favor. 
• You have the right to refuse a recorded statement until you have spoken with a lawyer; early statements are taken to limit the claim. 
• If you qualify as a seaman, you have the right to maintenance and cure, paid regardless of fault, from the day of injury until maximum medical improvement. Maintenance covers your real cost of living: rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, and food. Cure covers your medical care.

Three more things the company won’t tell you:

• Seamen may also be owed unearned wages for the remainder of the voyage. 
• An injury that aggravates a pre-existing condition is still covered. 
• Your benefits are not contingent on signing anything, so do not sign a release for maintenance, cure, or unearned wages without a lawyer reviewing it first. Signing the wrong document can waive claims you don’t know you have. Our Jones Act guide covers each of these rights in detail.

Why Injured Maritime Workers Choose Arnold & Itkin

Maritime companies and their insurers know which firms will actually try a case. We prepare every maritime case for trial from day one. We preserve vessel logs and black box data before they disappear, depose crews before stories harden, and hire the experts who can prove what a career on the water was worth. 

That preparation is why our cases have produced record results.

Our founding partners are members of the Inner Circle of Advocates, limited to the top 100 plaintiff’s lawyers in the nation. The firm holds Tier 1 rankings from Best Law Firms in Houston for both Personal Injury Litigation and Admiralty & Maritime Law, and in 2023 we were the only firm to appear three times among Top Verdict’s 15 largest Texas verdicts. We have recovered more than $25 billion for our clients over the years.

Injured on the Water? Talk to Us Before You Talk to the Company.

The company’s claims team started working your file before the vessel reached port. Call Arnold & Itkin at (888) 493-1629 for a free, confidential consultation with a Houston maritime lawyer. We fight for the seamen, longshoremen, and offshore workers who keep this port running. No Matter What.