Jones Act Attorney in San Antonio

Trial-Ready Guidance for Injured Maritime Workers in San Antonio

If you were hurt while working on a vessel, barge, tug, or offshore oil rig, you may need clear information about your options. Maritime injury claims can involve medical care, missed work, employer paperwork, and questions about whether the Jones Act applies. While maritime law gives qualifying seamen important rights, employers and insurers may not explain those rights clearly.

At Marc LaHood Law, we help injured maritime workers in and around San Antonio understand and assert potential rights when an unsafe vessel or careless employer contributes to an injury. Marc LaHood can review what happened, explain your legal options in plain language, and help you decide on a next step.

Our firm offers free, confidential consultations, and if we don’t win your personal injury case, you don’t pay legal fees. From our first conversation, we focus on giving you honest guidance about your injury, your work, and the legal path that may be available.

How We Help with Jones Act Claims

A maritime injury can involve an employer, vessel owner, insurer, or another responsible party depending on the facts and legal theory. We listen to how the injury has affected your work, medical care, and future plans, then give direct advice tailored to your situation. We don’t make empty promises or treat clients like file numbers.

Our firm has represented clients across generations in personal injury and criminal law, including matters involving major insurance companies and corporations. While we can't guarantee the outcome of any individual claim, our longstanding history in this area means you can come to us for a confidential conversation and straightforward information about your options.

The LaHood family has served clients in San Antonio courts since 1967. Our firm is led by Marc LaHood, a trial lawyer with a record of handling complex cases. We prepare every personal injury case as if it may proceed to trial, while keeping clients informed about strategy, negotiations, and the decisions ahead.

Understanding Jones Act Negligence

The Jones Act is a federal maritime law that allows a qualifying seaman injured in the course of employment to bring a civil action against an employer when employer negligence contributed to the injury. A seaman is a worker whose duties have a substantial connection to a vessel in navigation, meaning a vessel that is operating or capable of operating as part of maritime commerce. The law provides a right to a jury trial in an eligible Jones Act claim.

Jones Act negligence is different from ordinary land-based workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault benefit system. A Jones Act claim instead considers whether an employer’s negligence contributed to the work-related injury.

Negligence issues may include:

• Known Hazards: Failing to correct a reported or known danger
• Safety Rules: Ignoring established safety requirements
• Training: Providing inadequate training for assigned work
• Working Conditions: Requiring work in dangerous conditions without appropriate precautions
• Equipment: Failing to replace broken or defective equipment
• Vessel Maintenance: Allowing maintenance problems to persist

A Jones Act attorney in San Antonio can assess whether employer conduct may have contributed to your injury. Our review can include your work duties, the incident, available records, and the relationship between your employment and the vessel involved.

Seaman Status & Vessel Assignments

Not every maritime worker is a seaman under the Jones Act. Seaman status is a legal determination based on the nature of the worker’s duties and the worker’s connection to a vessel or identifiable fleet of vessels. A job title alone, or the fact that an injury happened near water, doesn’t answer the question.

Possible examples include deckhands on barges, offshore supply vessel crews, and workers whose regular duties are tied to a vessel or fleet. We can review your vessel assignments, daily responsibilities, employer relationship, and the circumstances of the injury before discussing whether the Jones Act may apply. If it doesn’t, another maritime or employment-law remedy may still be relevant.

Unseaworthiness under General Maritime Law

Unseaworthiness is separate from Jones Act negligence. Under general maritime law, an unseaworthiness claim concerns whether a vessel, its equipment, its crew, or its working conditions were reasonably fit for their intended purpose. Whether this theory applies depends on the facts and the parties involved.

Conditions that may raise unseaworthiness questions include:

• Broken Winches: Equipment that doesn’t function properly for its intended task
• Worn Ladders: Access equipment in an unsafe condition
• Understaffed Crews: Crew levels that may affect safe vessel operations
• Inadequate Training: Crew members who aren’t properly prepared for assigned duties
• Insufficient Maintenance: Vessel systems or equipment left in disrepair

An unseaworthiness claim may be pursued alongside a Jones Act negligence claim or separately, depending on the circumstances. We can review the vessel conditions and available evidence before advising you about potential claims.

Maintenance & Cure Benefits

Maintenance and cure is a separate maritime remedy from Jones Act negligence and unseaworthiness. Maintenance generally refers to basic living expenses, such as food and lodging, while an injured seaman is unable to work because of a service-connected injury or illness. Cure generally refers to reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to that injury or illness.

Eligibility, the scope of benefits, and the point at which payments may end depend on the facts and applicable maritime law. Employers and insurers may question treatment or end payments before a worker believes medical care is complete. We can review employer or insurer paperwork, explain the issues in plain language, and discuss potential options when maintenance and cure is delayed, disputed, or terminated.

What to Do After a Maritime Injury

After a vessel or offshore injury, prioritize medical care and follow the recommendations you are given. Prompt care can document the injury and identify treatment needs, although it doesn’t by itself determine whether a Jones Act claim exists. Report the injury accurately, without guessing about fault or minimizing symptoms.

Helpful steps after a maritime or offshore injury include:

• Seek Medical Care: Get prompt treatment and follow medical recommendations
• Report the Injury: Give an accurate report without speculating about fault or understating symptoms
• Preserve Available Details: Safely note vessel conditions, crew information, witnesses, and supervisor comments
• Keep Documents: Retain medical records, bills, accident reports, and employer or insurer communications
• Review Forms Carefully: Seek legal guidance before signing broad forms or giving a detailed recorded statement

If you can do so safely, write down conditions, such as wet or oily decks, missing non-skid surfaces, broken handrails, poor lighting, worn equipment, or understaffed shifts. Preserve available information without interfering with medical care or placing yourself in danger. Notes, photographs, and names of witnesses may become important maritime injury evidence.

Employers and insurers may ask injured workers to complete incident reports, sign medical authorizations, or provide recorded statements. You may need to report an injury, but you can ask for legal guidance before giving a detailed recorded statement or signing broad paperwork. When you reach out to Marc LaHood Law, we can review paperwork you have been asked to sign and explain how the Jones Act might apply.

How We Evaluate a Jones Act Claim

Our evaluation begins with the facts of the incident and the work that led to it. We may review incident reports, maintenance logs, safety manuals, training records, crew assignments, work hours, and prior hazard reports. Those materials can help assess whether unsafe staffing, inadequate training, delayed repairs, worn equipment, or other conditions contributed to the injury.

We also consider the full effect of the injury. Depending on the claim and available proof, that may include medical treatment, missed hitches, lost wages, reduced future earning capacity, physical pain, and emotional stress. Lost earning capacity means a possible reduction in what a person can earn in the future because of injury-related limitations.

Maritime injury cases may require records from vessel operations, employers, medical providers, and witnesses. Potential damages and timelines depend on the applicable claim, the evidence, the injury, medical progress, employment history, and other case-specific factors. We communicate with clients about investigation, settlement discussions, and trial preparation throughout the process.