Jones Act Lawyer Baytown, TX
If you’ve been hurt working on a vessel in or near the Port of Houston, Galveston Bay, or the Gulf, you are facing a complicated legal situation, in addition to serious injuries and worry about the future.
At Greenberg Streich, PLLC, we’ve handled Jones Act and maritime injury files across Texas for more than a decade, including a $16 million Jones Act traumatic brain injury settlement and a $3.53 million Jones Act towboat capsize matter. We represent injured seamen and their families, not vessel owners or their insurance carriers. Every case is on contingency. No retainer, no hourly billing, no fee unless we recover.
If you need a Baytown, TX Jones Act lawyer who seamen and their families can trust with a high-stakes case, we are ready to listen and act quickly.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich, PLLC for Jones Act Cases in Baytown, TX?
Trial Experience in Maritime Injury Cases
Co-founder Matt Greenberg has practiced personal injury law in Baytown, TX for 12 years and has served as lead trial counsel in cases that produced record-setting verdicts and settlements across multiple catastrophic injury categories. He earned his J.D. at Baylor Law School and has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Lawdragon, and the National Trial Lawyers.
Mike Streich has handled Jones Act and maritime injury cases for 13 years. His direct maritime results include a $16 million Jones Act traumatic brain injury settlement for an injured seaman and a $3.53 million Jones Act settlement for a towboat capsize matter, alongside other recoveries for injured mariners across Texas and Gulf-state waters. Mike graduated cum laude from the Houston Law Center and is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Before moving to the plaintiff side, Mike spent close to a decade defending corporations and insurance syndicates, including members of Lloyd’s of London, in maritime and catastrophic injury claims. That background informs how he prepares Jones Act files today.
Results That Matter to Mariners
Our attorneys have recovered over $375 million for clients across Texas. Alongside the Jones Act outcomes above, our maritime-adjacent results include multiple seven-figure and eight-figure recoveries for workers injured in port, offshore, and industrial operations.
Contingency Fee Representation
Injured mariners should not be writing retainer checks while they are still in the hospital. Our firm advances investigation costs, accident reconstruction, vessel and equipment analysis, and Coast Guard record retrieval, and our attorney fees come out of the recovery only if we win.
Client Feedback
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My family and I highly recommend Mike Streich. His thoughtfulness and compassion helped my family during a very difficult time. Mike is extremely responsive. Anytime we had questions or concerns he was right there to help navigate us through everything. We appreciate and are so grateful for everything he’s helped us with.”
Mishell D.
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Jones Act Cases We Handle in Baytown
Baytown sits at the edge of the busiest maritime region in Texas, with the Houston Ship Channel, the Port of Houston, and Gulf access all within easy reach. That traffic supports jobs on towboats, pushboats, supply vessels, barges, crew boats, fishing vessels, and offshore platforms. Our firm handles the most serious categories of Jones Act cases for injured workers and grieving families.
- Towboat and push boat crew injuries. Deckhand and engine-room injuries on inland and near-coastal towing vessels often involve slip-and-fall on wet decks, line-handling incidents, and contact with moving machinery.
- Supply vessel and crew boat injuries. Crew members hurt while transferring to or from offshore platforms, or while operating deck cranes, may have overlapping offshore injury claims and broader maritime injury matters.
- Commercial fishing injuries. Trawl winches, gillnet reels, and processing equipment cause traumatic injuries. Commercial fishing consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States.
- Boating accidents. Capsizing and collision events often produce multiple serious injuries and fatalities on a single vessel.
- Dredge and barge work. Dredging operations, barge fleeting, and harbor towing involve heavy lifts and long shifts with fatigue-related risk.
- Traumatic brain injuries. Head strikes on low clearances, falls into holds, and line-strike events are a common source of maritime traumatic brain injury, often with lifelong health complications.
- Burn injuries. Engine-room fires, fuel flashes, and cargo-related explosions produce catastrophic burn injuries and often overlap with our refinery and oilfield work.
- Vessel construction and repair injuries. Shipyard and drydock work introduces hazards similar to construction site operations, with added maritime jurisdictional questions.
- Fatal maritime incidents. When a seaman or vessel crew member dies on the job, surviving spouses, children, and parents may pursue wrongful death claims under federal and Texas law.
Texas Legal Requirements for Jones Act Claims
Jones Act cases are governed by federal law, with some important state-law overlays. A handful of rules frame most files.
The Jones Act itself. Under 46 U.S.C. § 30104, a seaman injured in the course of employment may bring a civil action against the employer and is entitled to trial by jury. The statute borrows the liability standards that apply to railway-worker cases under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which means the seaman’s burden of proof on causation is notably lighter than in ordinary negligence cases. The statute also allows the personal representative of a deceased seaman to pursue the action.
Who qualifies as a seaman. Jones Act coverage is limited to “seamen,” as defined in the text of The Jones Act and related case law. Under the Supreme Court’s test, a worker is a seaman if the worker’s duties contribute to the function of a vessel or the accomplishment of its mission, and the worker’s connection to a vessel (or identifiable fleet) in navigation is substantial in both its duration and its nature. Most deckhands, engineers, captains, mates, and permanent vessel crew members qualify. Longshoremen and dockside workers generally do not, and instead usually fall under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Statute of limitations. Under 46 U.S.C. § 30106, a civil action for maritime personal injury or death generally must be brought within three years of the cause of action. Vessel evidence also moves quickly, because maintenance records rotate, crew members transfer to other boats, and equipment is replaced during scheduled drydocking. The steps taken after a serious accident often determine how strong the case becomes.
Unseaworthiness. Separate from the Jones Act, general maritime law imposes on shipowners an absolute and non-delegable duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. Missing safety equipment, undermanned watches, untrained crew, or defective gear can establish unseaworthiness, which is a strict-liability claim that typically runs alongside a Jones Act negligence claim.
Maintenance and cure. Injured seamen are also entitled to “maintenance” (a daily living allowance) and “cure” (medical care to the point of maximum medical improvement), regardless of fault. An employer’s wrongful denial of maintenance and cure can expose the employer to additional damages.
Maritime safety data. OSHA maritime standards and BLS fatal injury data confirm that commercial fishing, shipping, and marine transportation regularly rank among the most dangerous occupations in the United States.
What Damages Are Recoverable in a Baytown Jones Act Case?
Jones Act cases allow seamen and their families to pursue several categories of damages that overlap with, but are not identical to, state-law personal injury damages.
Economic damages. These include past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation, assistive devices, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and, in fatal cases, funeral costs. Maintenance and cure payments may be recovered separately. Serious cases frequently require a forensic economist and a vocational analyst to project career losses, especially for a mariner whose Coast Guard-credentialed career has effectively ended.
Non-economic damages. Seamen may recover for physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Under general maritime law, some non-economic categories available in state personal injury cases (such as loss of consortium) have historically been treated differently for Jones Act claims, and case law in this area continues to evolve. In fatal seaman cases, federal and state statutes interact to shape what surviving family members may recover.
Punitive damages. Punitive damages are generally not recoverable on a Jones Act negligence claim itself. However, the U.S Supreme Court has held that punitive damages may be available for willful and wanton disregard of the duty to provide maintenance and cure under general maritime law. For non-seaman maritime cases where state law supplies the rule of decision, Texas exemplary damages rules under CPRC Chapter 41 may also apply. Traumatic brain injuries in particular raise their own set of evidentiary issues. Our firm pursues every legal avenue available to secure full and fair compensation, including future medical damages.
If the injury involves a third-party vessel, a dockside contractor, or a defective product, additional sources of coverage often apply beyond the immediate employer’s insurance.
Contact Greenberg Streich, PLLC
A serious maritime injury can sideline a career that was built over years on the water, and Jones Act rules are not something to navigate alone. You deserve a firm that takes the case as seriously as you do. Our attorneys will listen carefully, review the evidence, and give you an honest assessment of your options, including whether a lawsuit is the right next step.
Consultations are free. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you. We respond to calls and form submissions promptly, and we can meet in person, by phone, or by video, whichever works best for you.
Contact us today to speak with our Baytown Jones Act lawyer about what happened and what comes next.
