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Texas Jones Act Lawyer

A Texas Jones Act injury lawyer helps seamen injured on vessels in Texas waters or offshore in the Gulf of Mexico recover damages from negligent employers under 46 U.S.C. § 30104. Qualifying crew members can also claim maintenance and cure and unseaworthiness damages, but they must file claims within three years of the injury.

Serving Injured Seamen Across Texas:

  • Houston
  • Galveston
  • Corpus Christi
  • Beaumont
  • Port Arthur
  • Texas City
  • Freeport
  • Sugar Land
  • Brownsville
Free Case Review
texas jones act lawyer

Why Injured Maritime Workers in Texas Choose Trey Barton Law

Trey Barton Law focuses on industrial and offshore injury cases, with over $70 million recovered for injured Texas workers since 2020. Our Texas Jones Act injury lawyer team serves every port on the coast and knows how vessel operators, drilling contractors, and their insurers handle crew injury claims.

Maritime employers and their protection and indemnity insurers start building defenses immediately. Led by Sugar Land trial lawyer Trey Barton, our Texas maritime injury lawyers move just as fast, preserving evidence and handling claims under the Jones Act statewide on contingency. You don’t pay unless we win.

Over $70 Million in Settlements and Verdicts Since 2020

What the Jones Act Covers for Injured Seamen in Texas

The Jones Act, also known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, codified at 46 U.S.C. § 30104, allows injured seamen to sue employers for negligence and have a jury decide the entire case. The Merchant Marine Act/Jones Act establishes important legal rights because injured seamen generally are excluded from state workers’ compensation benefits and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) under federal law.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 borrows rules from FELA, bringing a “featherweight” causation standard. The Jones Act works in employees’ favor because they only need to prove employer negligence contributed, even in the slightest, to the personal injuries sustained on the job. Like standard personal injury claims, the victim’s responsibility reduces recovery under pure comparative negligence (45 U.S.C. § 53), but it doesn’t bar it.

Employers also can’t argue that injured seamen assumed the risk of a dangerous job (45 U.S.C. § 54). Under Gautreaux v. Scurlock Marine, seamen are held to ordinary prudence, not a heightened duty. A 2022 amendment carved out certain aquaculture workers, but it rarely affects employees working in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jobs Often Covered by the Jones Act

Tugs, Towboats & Barges

Houston Ship Channel and Intracoastal Waterway crews

  • Deckhands
  • Tankermen
  • Mates
  • Captains & Pilots
  • Engineers

Offshore Vessels & Rigs

OSVs, liftboats, crew boats, drillships, and jack-ups

  • OSV Crew
  • Liftboat Crew
  • Crew Boat Crew
  • Drillship Crew
  • Crane Operators
  • Roustabouts*
  • Roughnecks*

*Rig crew coverage depends on the type of rig and how much of your work is done aboard it.

Ship & Tanker Crews

Licensed and unlicensed crew aboard working vessels

  • Able Seamen (ABs)
  • QMEDs
  • Oilers
  • Cooks & Stewards
  • Ordinary Seamen

Dredges & Fishing Boats

Channel dredging and Gulf shrimp and fishing fleets

  • Dredge Levermen
  • Dredge Deckhands
  • Shrimp Boat Crew
  • Commercial Fishermen

Other Maritime Jobs, Other Claims

Not a seaman? You may still have a strong case.

  • Longshore Workers & StevedoresLHWCA
  • Dock & Terminal WorkersLHWCA
  • Shipyard & Ship Repair WorkersLHWCA
  • Fixed Platform WorkersOCSLA

Your job title alone does not decide your claim. Seaman status depends on your duties and time aboard a vessel.

Workers Covered By the Jones Act

Not every employee working at sea is a Jones Act seaman. Courts apply the Supreme Court’s seaman-status test in Chandris v. Latsis, which has two parts:

  1. You must contribute to a vessel’s function or mission.
  2. Your connection to that vessel must be substantial in both duration and nature.

As a general rule, you need to spend a significant amount of time on a vessel in navigation, at least 30%.

Stewart v. Dutra Construction confirmed that dredges count. The ruling in Sanchez v. Smart Fabricators of Texas tightened the Jones Act seaman status for workers on jack-up rigs.

Common examples of Jones Act seamen include deckhands, tankermen, able-bodied seamen (ABs), QMEDs, mates, captains, cooks, dredge levermen, and liftboat crews. If you’re working at sea, you likely qualify if these factors apply:

  • You contribute to the function or mission of a vessel in navigation or an identifiable fleet of vessels
  • You spend 30% or more of your work time aboard a vessel in navigation, and your connection is substantial in nature (exposure to perils of the sea)
  • The vessel is “in navigation”: tugs, towboats, barges, OSVs, crew boats, dredges, jack-up rigs, drillships, fishing boats
  • Your employer is the vessel operator or a company that assigns you to vessel work
  • You were injured in the course of employment, on or off the vessel

Free Eligibility Check

Seaman Status & Deadline Quick-Check

See which law likely covers your injury & when your claim must be filed.

2Share of work time aboard a vessel
3Where you were hurt

General information only, not legal advice.

Determining If You File a Negligence, LHWCA, Or Jones Act Claim in Texas

Dock, terminal, and fixed-platform workers usually don’t qualify as Jones Act seamen. Longshoremen, harbor workers, and ship repairers typically receive no-fault benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Employees on fixed Outer Continental Shelf platforms are covered through the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which extends LHWCA benefits to those injured while working offshore.

LHWCA coverage does not end legal options. If unsafe conditions aboard vessels caused a personal injury, you can still sue the owner under 33 U.S.C. § 905(b). Shore-side workers outside both systems may be able to file for workers’ compensation benefits or seek compensation through a standard personal injury claim.

Jones Act

46 U.S.C. § 30104

Who It Covers

Seamen who spend about 30% or more of their work time aboard a vessel in navigation

Fault Required?

Yes

Employer negligence must play any part, even the slightest

Benefits / Damages

Lost wages and earning capacity, medical care, pain and suffering, and mental anguish

Filing Deadline

3 years

From the date of injury

The Three Core Claims Under The Jones Act & What The Jones Act Requires

Injured seamen generally can bring three claims under the Jones Act together in one lawsuit:

  1. Employer negligence
  2. Unseaworthiness for unsafe conditions aboard vessels
  3. Maintenance and cure

Each has different evidence requirements, and filing claims together protects a Jones Act seaman’s recovery if one faces a strong defense. Our Texas Jones Act attorneys evaluate all three.

Claim 01

Jones Act Negligence

Holds your employer responsible for unsafe orders, poor training, short crews, and defective equipment.

Who pays

Your employer

Fault needed?

Yes Even the slightest part in causing your injury

Claim 02

Unseaworthiness

Covers vessels that are not reasonably fit for their use, such as slick decks, worn lines, or missing guards.

Who pays

The vessel owner, who may not be your employer

Fault needed?

No The owner's duty is absolute

Claim 03

Maintenance and Cure

Daily living expenses, medical care until maximum medical improvement, and unearned wages for the hitch.

Who pays

Your employer

Fault needed?

No Owed regardless of who caused the injury

Common examples of employer negligence in offshore injury cases include: inadequate crew size, inadequate training, unsafe orders to work in heavy weather, faulty equipment or failure to maintain equipment, fatigue from excessive hitches, and unsafe working conditions. For success in claims under the Jones Act, the employer’s failure only needs to contribute to your injury.

Vessel owners have a legal duty to provide a vessel reasonably fit for its intended use, as held in Mitchell v. Trawler Racer. Injured maritime workers don’t need to prove intent or negligence. Unsafe conditions aboard vessels can include slick decks, worn mooring lines, missing guards, and an undermanned team, which can all make a vessel unseaworthy. The owner may differ from your employer.

  • Maintenance: daily stipend for living expenses while you recover
  • Cure: covers medical costs until you reach maximum medical improvement, and lost wages run through the end of your voyage or hitch.

These are owed to injured workers regardless of fault. Employers often offer rates that are too low to cover actual living costs. Our Texas maritime injury lawyers can challenge those rates. If an employer refuses to pay or cuts off benefits in bad faith, under Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, maritime workers can seek punitive damages and attorney’s fees on top of the unpaid compensation.

Common Gulf Of Mexico Maritime Accidents

Every Texas Jones Act injury lawyer on our legal team handles crew injuries along the 423-mile Texas stretch of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (TxDOT Maritime Division) and offshore workers injured in the Gulf of Mexico. The following types of maritime accidents drive most of the Texas offshore injury claims handled, but the list isn’t exhaustive.

Towboat and tug crews face line-handling injuries, parted-line snap-back, barge strikes, falls between barges during make-up and break-up of tows, and man-overboard events. Our maritime lawyers trace crush injuries from parted lines and shifting barges back to their root causes: staff shortages, worn rigging, and rushed orders.

Personnel transfers from offshore supply vessels and crew boats by swing rope or personnel basket cause serious falls in Gulf swells. Our Jones Act attorneys also handle mobile offshore drilling unit accidents, liftboat capsizes, drillship injuries, and offshore oil rig explosion cases. After Sanchez, offshore workers on jack-up rigs need a free case review to determine if they qualify for the Jones Act seaman status.

Channel-deepening projects at Houston, Corpus Christi, and the Sabine-Neches Waterway put dredge crews near pressurized pipelines and cutterheads, while crew boats suffer collisions and hard landings in rough seas. Many of these Jones Act cases involve heavy deck equipment and crane injuries, from winch failures to dropped loads and crane collapses that strike or crush deckhands.

Gulf shrimp fleets out of Galveston, Port Arthur, and Brownsville run long trips with small crews. Deckhands suffer winch and net entanglement, trawl door and outrigger injuries, and falls overboard; generally speaking, many maritime accidents happen because of round-the-clock fatigue.

Fishing crew members are usually Jones Act seamen covered by all the important protections listed above.

Engine room fires and tank barge explosions during loading at refinery and petrochemical docks cause severe burns and blast injuries, while tankermen face H2S and benzene exposure during cargo transfers. Our Jones Act lawyer team handles fire and explosion injury claims in Texas, toxic chemical exposure claims, and offshore worker injuries sustained in LNG terminal accidents.

texas maritime lawyer

Serious Injuries & Maritime Wrongful Death Claims

Maritime work remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. BLS water transportation injury data shows 11 deaths and 3.1 recordable injuries per 100 full-time workers in 2024, and towing vessel crews died at 5.4 per 100,000 workers that year (USCG-AWO), well above the 3.3 rate for all U.S. workers.

Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputation and crush injuries, and severe burns often end a career at sea. Because cure stops at maximum medical improvement, lifetime care and lost earning capacity must be recovered through Jones Act negligence and unseaworthiness claims. We work with life-care planners and economists to prove those losses.

When a seaman is killed, the personal representative files for the surviving spouse and children, or the parents if there are none. The Death on the High Seas Act (46 U.S.C. § 30302) governs deaths beyond 3 nautical miles, and Miles v. Apex Marine limits recovery to financial losses like lost support and funeral costs.

Unlike Texas wrongful death claims, federal maritime law does not compensate a family’s grief or lost companionship. We determine which law applies, help the family get a personal representative appointed, and investigate the death independently instead of relying on the employer’s report.

Towing Crew Deaths

5.4 per 100,000 workers

Fatality rate for towing vessel crews in 2024, about 1.6x the rate for all U.S. workers (3.3).

Source: USCG-AWO Annual Safety Report (2026)

Nonfatal Injuries

3.1 per 100 full-time workers

Recordable injury rate in water transportation in 2024. Nearly two-thirds led to days away from work, job restrictions, or a transfer.

Source: BLS, Water Transportation (NAICS 483)

Damages Available in a Texas Jones Act Claim

Your recovery depends on which claims apply, how fault is allocated, and how long your injury keeps you off the job. A Texas Jones Act injury attorney pursues every available claim. Injured employees working offshore can recover damages, such as:

  • Lost income and future earning capacity
  • Medical costs and future medical expenses for medical treatment, surgery, and rehabilitation
  • Maintenance, cure, and unearned income
  • Non-economic damages: physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, scarring and disfigurement, physical impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.
  • Punitive damages and attorney’s fees in specific circumstances
  • Wrongful death: lost support, services, and funeral costs

Punitive damages aren’t a part of Jones Act compensation for cases involving negligence under McBride v. Estis Well Service, or for unsafe working conditions aboard a vessel under Dutra Group v. Batterton. However, a Jones Act attorney can seek them when an employer willfully fails to pay maintenance and cure.

Damage Type

Lost Wages / Earning Capacity

Income lost while you recover and your ability to earn in the future.

Jones Act Negligence

Employer fault required

Covered

Past and future wages plus lost earning capacity.

Unseaworthiness

No negligence required

Covered

The same wage and earning-capacity recovery as negligence.

Maintenance and Cure

No fault required

Limited

Unearned wages only, through the end of the voyage or hitch.

Covered Limited Not covered
Not sure which claims fit your case? Call 832-916-2526 Free Case Review

Statute of Limitations For Filing Claims Under The Jones Act

Claims under general maritime law and the Jones Act fall under the three-year maritime filing deadline. LHWCA claims require notice within 30 days and a claim within one year, and state negligence lawsuits carry a two-year limit.

If you were injured while working offshore, don’t wait to seek legal representation. Vessel logs, CCTV footage, and maintenance records can be overwritten or lost within weeks of an incident.

CHECK MY DEADLINE

What to Do After a Maritime Injury in Texas

Your employer must file a USCG Report of Marine Casualty (Form CG-2692) for qualifying injuries:

  • Requiring medical treatment beyond basic first aid
  • If the person is engaged or employed on board a vessel in commercial service, the injury must render them unfit to perform their routine vessel duties

The steps you take after a maritime injury are just as important:

  • Report the injury to the captain or supervisor in writing immediately
  • Get medical care and keep every record; you can choose your own doctor for cure
  • Don’t sign statements or give a recorded statement to the company or its insurer
  • Don’t accept a quick settlement offer or low maintenance rate without consulting a maritime injury lawyer
  • Call a Jones Act lawyer before returning to the vessel
Printable Evidence Checklist

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How Our Texas Jones Act Offshore Injury Lawyers Build Your Case

Under the savings-to-sovereign clause (28 U.S.C. § 1333(1)), a seaman can file in Texas state court or federal court. Jones Act suits filed in state court generally cannot be removed to federal court (28 U.S.C. § 1445(a), via FELA), so venue is a strategic choice you control.

Hiring a Texas Jones Act injury lawyer early gives your case its strongest start, and we’re there throughout the entire process. Every Texas Jones Act injury attorney on our maritime trial team follows the same legal process:

  1. Free consultation and Jones Act seaman-status review

  2. Immediate preservation letters for vessel logs, CCTV, and maintenance records

  3. Investigate USCG casualty reports, hire marine safety experts, and conduct co-worker interviews

  4. Workup for economic and non-economic damages

  5. Demand, filing in the right court, and discovery

  6. Mediation, settlement, or jury trial

Texas Jones Act Injury Lawyer Serving Ports & Waterways Across The Gulf of Mexico

Our Sugar Land office handles Jones Act claims from every Texas port and the offshore Gulf. Depending on where the maritime accident happened and who the defendants are, your case may be filed in the state district court or in a federal division. Below, our maritime lawyers cover each port’s courts and trauma centers.

Port of Houston

220.1M

Short tons of foreign cargo in 2024, ranks #1 in U.S. for foreign waterborne tonnage.

Source: TxDOT Port Houston

Port of Corpus Christi

203.4M

Tons of cargo moved through the port in 2025.

Source: Port of Corpus Christi

Gulf of Mexico Intracoastal Waterway

423miles

Of the Intracoastal Waterway run along the Texas coast.

Source: TxDOT Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

Port Houston ranks first in the U.S. for foreign waterborne tonnage at 220.5 million short tons across more than 200 Ship Channel terminals. Our Houston Jones Act attorneys handle Houston Ship Channel accident claims at every one of those terminals.

Your Houston Jones Act lawyer can file in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, and Harris County civil district courts. Seriously injured crew members are treated at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and Ben Taub Hospital (both Level I) or HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast in Pasadena (Level III).

Our office at 3 Sugar Creek Center Blvd., Ste 675, serves offshore and inland crew members who live in Fort Bend and commute to Gulf hitches. As Fort Bend County injury lawyers, we file at the Fort Bend County Justice Center. Severe injuries transfer to Houston’s Level I centers.

The Port of Galveston, Texas City refinery docks, Port Freeport, and heavy GIWW tow traffic produce frequent maritime worker injuries. Federal cases go to the SDTX Galveston Division and state cases to the Galveston County Justice Center, while Freeport incidents may support Brazoria County injury claims. UTMB Galveston provides Level I trauma care.

Refinery and LNG terminal traffic, tank barges, and shrimp fleets keep the Sabine-Neches Waterway busy. We handle Port Arthur and Beaumont refinery dock injuries in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division (Jack Brooks Federal Building) and Jefferson County district courts. CHRISTUS Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth, Beaumont, is a Level III trauma center.

The Port of Corpus Christi is the third-largest U.S. port by total tonnage. Cases are filed in the SDTX Corpus Christi Division or Brownsville Division. Texas DSHS lists CHRISTUS Spohn Shoreline, Corpus Christi Medical Center Bay Area, and Valley Baptist Medical Center, Harlingen, as Level II.

houston maritime attorney

Contact Our Texas Maritime Accident Lawyers For a Free Consultation

Our Texas maritime accident lawyers offer free case consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, so you don’t owe anything unless we win. Your employer’s investigation has already started, and you’ll need a Texas Jones Act lawyer to build a strong case as well. Call 832-916-2526 or schedule a free consultation today.

Texas Jones Act Injury FAQs

These are the questions injured seamen and their families ask us most, and you can find more answers about Texas injury claims in our full FAQ library.

A Jones Act claim’s value depends on your medical expenses, lost wages, and how fault is divided.

  • Lost income loss, future medical expenses, and fault percentage drive value
  • Maintenance and cure is owed regardless of fault
  • Every Jones Act claim is valued on its own facts, not averages

Some examples of maritime jobs include

  • Deckhands, ABs, mates, and captains
  • Tankermen, QMEDs, and cooks
  • Dredge levermen, liftboat crews, and fishing deckhands

Maritime workers are any staff that contribute to a vessel’s mission, from navigation to cargo handling.

Maritime lawyers handle injury and death claims governed by federal maritime law, from seaman-status disputes through trial.

  • Prove seaman status and identify every liable party
  • Recover maintenance and cure, lost wages, and damages
  • Choose the strongest state or federal venue

Maintenance and cure covers an injured seaman’s living expenses and medical costs while recovering from an injury or illness at sea. This typically covers:

  • daily living costs like rent and utilities
  • medical treatment and prescriptions

Maintenance and cure ends when injured maritime workers reach maximum medical improvement, meaning further medical treatment won’t improve their condition.

  • MMI is based on your treating doctor’s findings
  • Early MMI declarations can be challenged
  • Unearned wages end with the voyage or hitch

Whether the Jones Act covers workers on offshore rigs and platforms depends on whether the injured worker worked on a vessel or fixed structure.

  • Drillships and many vessel-based crews can qualify
  • Fixed-platform employees working offshore usually fall under OCSLA and the LHWCA
  • Jack-up rig status turns on the Sanchez factors

Yes, the personal representative can file a Jones Act claim and offshore rig death claims on the family’s behalf.

  • DOHSA applies to fatalities beyond 3 nautical miles
  • A three-year deadline applies

If you’re an injured seaman, your Jones Act case is filed either in Texas state district court or federal court. Venue options include Harris, Galveston, Jefferson, and Nueces Counties.

There is no upfront cost for hiring a Texas Jones Act offshore injury lawyer. Trey Barton Law handles cases on a contingency fee basis and offers free consultations, so you don’t pay unless we win, recovering compensation under the Jones Act on your behalf.

Practice Areas

Serving These Cities & Counties in Texas

Houston, TX
Richmond, TX
Rosenberg, TX
La Grange, TX
Columbus, TX
Smithville, TX
Bellville, TX
Sealy, TX
Bastrop, TX
Weimar, TX
Hallettsville, TX
Giddings, TX
Schulenburg, TX
Luling, TX
Seguin, TX
Cuero, TX
Smithville, TX
Fayette County
Fort Bend County
Colorado County
Austin County
Lavaca County
Smithville, TX
Bastrop County
Caldwell County
Gonzales County
Wharton County
Brazoria County

Free Consultation

Our experienced Houston personal injury attorneys want to get to know you and understand your unique situation. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation. You don’t pay unless your case is won.

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No Fee Unless You Win

Trey Barton understands the hardships injured people and their loved ones face as they try to heal from their accident. Every case is prepared as if it is going to trial. This gives you the best opportunity to obtain a fair recovery for your case, and ensures I am positioned to take the case to trial if the insurance company does not give you the money you deserve.

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