Committed Texas City maritime injury attorneys with more than ten years of courtroom experience handling Jones Act, longshore, and offshore injury claims.
Maritime accidents can involve federal maritime statutes, common law admiralty doctrines, and Texas tort principles in different combinations. Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers represents injured maritime workers and passengers throughout the upper Texas coast. To consult with our Texas City, TX maritime injury lawyer, please reach out for a free, confidential case review.
Maritime Injury Lawyer Texas City, TX
A maritime injury case is a civil claim arising from an injury, illness, or death on navigable waters or that bears a substantial connection to traditional maritime activity. The body of law applied is general maritime law, supplemented by federal statutes such as the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the Death on the High Seas Act.
What that means in practice is that the injured worker or passenger frequently has remedies that would not be available in a standard land-based case. Maintenance and cure, unseaworthiness liability without proof of fault, and the slight-cause negligence standard for seamen all lack parallel provisions in state tort law. Our maritime injury attorneys in Texas City evaluate the facts to determine which combination of remedies best fits the case, and we file in the venue most favorable to the client.
Types of Maritime Injury Cases We Handle in Texas City
Maritime work in the Texas City ship channel, Galveston Bay, and the Gulf Coast generates a recurring set of incident types. Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers represents injured workers, passengers, and surviving family members across the full range of maritime claims.
- Seaman injuries on tugs, towboats, and supply vessels. Crew on vessels in navigation often qualify as Jones Act seamen, with full negligence and unseaworthiness remedies available.
- Longshore and harbor worker injuries. Workers loading and unloading vessels, repairing ships, or building vessels generally proceed under the Longshore Act rather than the Jones Act.
- Passenger injuries on commercial vessels. Passengers on ferries, charter boats, sightseeing vessels, and cruise ships have rights under general maritime law and, in some cases, DOHSA.
- Cruise ship medical negligence. On-board medical errors, delayed evacuation, and inadequate care on a vessel can support a maritime claim.
- Dock and pier injuries. Workers and visitors hurt on a dock or pier may have claims under maritime law, premises liability, or both.
- Mooring and rigging accidents. Snapped lines, parted cables, and rigging failures cause some of the most catastrophic injuries on the waterfront.
- Personnel basket and crew transfer incidents. Transferring crew between vessels and platforms in heavy seas remains one of the highest-risk activities in offshore work.
- Drowning and overboard fatalities. Falls overboard, capsizing, and inadequate rescue procedures can support both wrongful death and unseaworthiness claims.
- Toxic exposure and chemical injuries on vessels. Hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and other vessel-borne exposures cause acute and long-term injury.
- Vessel collisions and allisions. Collisions between vessels, and collisions with stationary objects, often involve violations of the Inland Navigation Rules.
- Jones Act. Crew members who qualify as seamen have negligence and unseaworthiness remedies far broader than those available under ordinary workers’ compensation.
- Offshore injuries. Workers on fixed platforms beyond state waters often combine maritime law with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
- Boating accidents. Recreational vessel claims may fall under either state tort law or general maritime law, depending on the facts.
- Wrongful death. Surviving families may pursue recovery under DOHSA, the Jones Act, general maritime law, or Texas wrongful death statutes.
- Brain injuries. Falls aboard vessels, near-drownings, and blunt trauma at sea frequently produce traumatic brain injury.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers for Maritime Injury in Texas City, TX?
Maritime Defense Pedigree
Mike Streich began his career at Royston, Rayzor, Vickery & Williams, one of the oldest maritime defense firms in Texas, before moving to Phelps Dunbar in Louisiana. He spent years representing vessel owners, P&I clubs, and Lloyd’s of London syndicates in catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims. As an associate, he served as an on-call first responder to maritime incidents, conducting shipboard investigations within hours of vessel events. As a personal injury lawyer in Texas City, Mike now uses that defense-side knowledge to advance the rights of injured seamen, passengers, and harbor workers.
Matt Greenberg is a Texas trial attorney with significant verdicts and settlements across catastrophic injury practice areas. Matt is licensed in Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona, holds a J.D. from Baylor Law School, and has been recognized by Super Lawyers, Lawdragon, and the National Trial Lawyers. He is active in the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Verdicts and Settlements
Our attorneys have recovered over $375 million for injured clients, including a $16 million maritime injury settlement that Mike personally handled for an injured seaman. Other multi-million-dollar maritime, offshore, and oilfield outcomes are documented across the firm’s practice. Maritime cases require resources, patience, and credibility with the defense.
How Our Firm Operates
Our Texas City maritime injury attorneys handle these cases on contingency. There is no fee unless we recover, and the firm advances all litigation costs. Free consultations are available 24/7.
Understanding Maritime Injury Cases
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Maritime Injury Cases
Recoverable damages in a maritime case depend on the worker’s status, the legal framework, and the location of the incident. The major categories are well established.
- Economic damages. These cover your measurable financial losses, including past and future medical care, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs tied to your recovery.
- Punitive damages. These may be recovered under general maritime law when an employer willfully fails to provide maintenance and cure, and in limited circumstances under the Jones Act.
- Non-economic damages. These address the personal toll of an injury, such as pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. They are available in Jones Act, unseaworthiness, and general maritime claims, though they remain restricted under DOHSA wrongful death claims.
- Maintenance and cure for seamen. This covers daily living expenses and reasonable medical care from the date of injury through maximum medical improvement, and it is owed regardless of who was at fault.
Liability in maritime cases extends across vessel owners, operators, charterers, employers, equipment manufacturers, and shoreside contractors. Maritime law applies pure comparative fault, so any percentage of fault attributed to the worker reduces but does not bar recovery. Where state law claims are filed, Section 33.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs allocation in the state-law portion.
Important Aspects in Your Maritime Injury Case
Several issues drive the trajectory of every maritime claim.
- Status determination. Whether the injured person is a seaman, a Longshore Act employee, an OCSLA-covered worker, or a passenger sets the available framework. Status disputes are common and often outcome-determinative.
- Vessel status. Whether the structure was a vessel in navigation, a fixed platform, or something in between affects which doctrines apply.
- Evidence preservation. Vessel logs, maintenance records, bridge audio, deck videos, and crew rosters can vanish quickly. Preservation letters go out within days.
- Medical documentation. Maritime injuries often require extended treatment that must be carefully tracked for both maintenance and cure compliance and damages proof.
- Forum strategy. Maritime claims may be filed in state court under the saving-to-suitors clause or in federal admiralty.
Maritime Injury Case Timeline
Maritime cases follow a recognizable progression, though the pace varies with the injury and parties involved.
- Site preservation and early investigation. Preservation letters, witness identification, and engagement of marine experts in the first 30 to 60 days.
- Maintenance and cure for seamen. Begins immediately and continues until maximum medical improvement is reached.
- Medical treatment and documentation. Orthopedic, neurological, burn, and pulmonary care often runs a year or more.
- Pre-suit demand. A formal demand to insurers and operators once damages are documented.
- Lawsuit filing. State court under the saving-to-suitors clause, or federal court under admiralty jurisdiction.
- Discovery, depositions, mediation, and trial. Most maritime cases settle, but only when defendants believe the case is genuinely headed to verdict.
What to Bring to Your Maritime Injury Consultation
The first meeting moves faster when you bring whatever records you have.
- The incident report, vessel log entry, or any company report concerning the event.
- Medical records, ambulance bills, ER notes, and treatment summaries.
- Pay records, sea-time documentation, and any contractor or charter agreements.
- Photographs of the vessel, the equipment, your injuries, and the scene.
- Names and contact information for crewmates, masters, supervisors, and witnesses.
The consultation will cover what occurred, your likely status, the applicable framework, and your next steps.
Texas Legal Resources for Maritime Injury
Maritime injury law combines federal statute, federal common law, and state tort principles.
- Federal admiralty jurisdiction. 28 USC § 1333 grants federal district courts original jurisdiction over admiralty and maritime cases, while preserving state court jurisdiction over common law remedies.
- Death on the High Seas Act. DOHSA, codified at 46 USC §§ 30301-30308, provides the wrongful death remedy for deaths at sea occurring more than three nautical miles from shore.
- Marine accident investigations. The National Transportation Safety Board’s Office of Marine Safety investigates major marine casualties and publishes reports that often become evidence.
- Statute of limitations. Where Texas tort principles apply, Section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code provides a two-year period. Federal maritime claims generally carry a three-year limit.
- Local courts. Maritime cases involving Texas City may be filed in the Galveston County district court or in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division.
These resources are starting points. Applying them to a specific incident is part of what we do during the consultation.
Reach Out to Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
Our Texas City maritime injury lawyer is ready to fight for every penny you’re due. Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers provide free, confidential consultations to injured seamen, passengers, harbor workers, and family members affected by maritime incidents. We work on a contingency basis, so the call costs nothing; contact us by phone or online.
