Texas Oilfield Accident Lawyer

Oil and gas workers’ compensation insurance companies cover medical expenses when injured employees seek medical attention for workplace accidents and a portion of lost wages. Workers’ compensation claims don’t cover non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, full disability, or future care. Since employers pay workers’ compensation doctors, they’re pressured to report oil field injuries as less critical than they are.

Injured workers should file a personal injury lawsuit whenever possible to recover the full value of economic and non-economic damages and access to better medical care.

Oilfield workers suffering on-the-job injuries cannot sue employers if the employer carries workers’ compensation insurance. However, when employers don’t provide workers’ comp benefits or when third parties such as contractors, manufacturers, or outside parties contribute to workplace accidents, oilfield workers can file a personal injury lawsuit.

Workers’ compensation claims only provide limited workers’ compensation benefits:

• 70% of pre-accident income for temporary benefits if earnings are above $1,111/week
• A maximum cap of $1,172 per week for temporary income benefits
• No non-economic damages or future expenses

Compare this to high-earning oilfield workers earning $100,000-$160,000/year. With workers’ compensation claims, they’d lose over $95,000/year in unpaid income alone, not including future income and non-economic damages.

In contrast, filing a personal injury lawsuit can help recover damages for immediate costs and expenses moving forward. Personal injury damages include the full amount of economic damages like lost income and earning capacity, mental anguish, disfigurement, rehabilitation, pain and suffering, and other expenses related to the oil field accident, including court costs.

Additionally, our oil field injury lawyers seek punitive damages when defendants are grossly negligent. Punitive damages are capped at $200,000 or 2x the economic and non-economic damages, not exceeding $750,000.

Employers always pressure workplace accident victims not to contact personal injury lawyers. Company men and insurance companies claim they’ll “take care of everything”. This is not for your protection; it’s to avoid responsibility.

Offshore oilfield workers injured on drilling rigs, MODUs, or marine vessels may qualify as seamen. Our Texas offshore injury lawyers file Jones Act claims to hold employers accountable for negligence, vessel hazards, and unseaworthiness. Texas Jones Act claims assistance allows clients to pursue full compensation for lost wages, medical costs, pain and suffering, and long-term disability beyond what workers’ comp provides.

Our Texas oil field accident lawyers can file a wrongful death claim for fatalities occurring because of someone else’s negligence. Even if employers carry workers’ compensation insurance, surviving family members can still sue employers for gross negligence or wilful misconduct (common in the oil and gas industry). Families can also file wrongful death lawsuits against third parties, like contractors, manufacturers, and service companies.

Texas doesn’t cap punitive damages in wrongful death claims, and our oilfield accident lawyers pursue punitive damages when wrongful death results from gross negligence, fraud, and malice.

Settlements and awards for Texas oilfield death claims can cover:

• Loss of earning capacity/support
• Loss of companionship/society
• Mental anguish
• Loss of inheritance

Workers’ compensation claims don’t cover any of those. 

If surviving family members (spouses, children, or parents) don’t sue for the death of their loved one within 3 months, the estate’s executor or administrator may file.

The statute of limitations is two years from the date of death.