Jones Act Attorney

The Jones Act Protects Sea Workers

Part of the function of the United States legal system is to protect the rights of the individual. To balance this out, there are plenty of laws that protect a company as well. As lifestyles change, technology advances and the population grows, new laws are passed. A good example of this is maritime law and the rules and regulations that fall under it.

Maritime laws are quite old since the United States has been conducting business on the seas for centuries. Now we have even more business happening on the seas, in fact, there are US ships on international waters and foreign ships on US waters. With these types of changes and many others, the United States Congress passed an updated Jones Act around 1970. It was this new set of rules and regulations that assured the sea workers that they were protected if they were injured on the job. And injured they were.

Someone is Held Liable for a Seaman's Injury

There have been numerous cases of sea workers being injured on the job. There are still Jones Act lawsuits being filed today. Clearly, working at sea is not the safest environment to work in, but sea workers understand this. They understand the hazardous conditions their job will entail. This, however, does not allow an employer or ship owner to be impervious to any liability. To the contrary, the Jones Act assures a sea worker that the ship owner or employer will be held liable if it can be proved that a sea worker was injured because of the negligence of the employer. Before the Jones Act, the sea worker did not have this protection. Sea workers were being injured and were not able to pursue any recourse.

Consult with a Jones Act Attorney

If you have been injured while working on a ship, it is in your best interest to consult with a Jones Act attorney. Jones Act lawsuits are filed regularly, some of which do not have any basis. Talking with a Jones Act attorney will provide you will a clear picture of what legal rights you have and what legal steps you should take. At Williams Kherkher the Jones Act attorneys understand not all clients that walk through the door have a case. They want to be your advocate, which means representing you if and only if there is legal basis. They do not want to just obtain clients to increase their firm clientele list. Contact Williams Kherkher and schedule a free consultation with one of their Jones Act attorneys.