Home to one of the largest and busiest ports in the world, New Orleans with its crucial transportation hub and distribution center for waterborne commerce is the center of a robust maritime industry with more than 180 piers, docks and wharves on both sides of the Mississippi River. The port handles barge traffic navigating the river, as well as tankers and offshore vessels.
New Orleans is located in southern Louisiana, near where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous energy producers and oil field services companies are located within the city, along with firms dealing with maritime equipment, security, shipping, salvage, ship-barge cleaning, ship repair, freight-forwarding, storage facilities, barge fleeting, and cruise lines among many others. Consequently, this vibrant port city is a magnet to many different kinds of maritime workers. Unfortunately, many maritime jobs are potentially dangerous resulting in serious injury or even death.
It is therefore not a surprise to have a large number of New Orleans Maritime Lawyers offering services to those people who earn their living on the water either as seamen and commercial fishermen in Louisiana, or as part of the multi-faceted oil and gas industry along the Gulf Coast.
The law office of Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., helps the hardworking men and women in the maritime industries. We put our experience and dedication to clients behind every Jones Act and admiralty law case we handle. Our firm has attorneys licensed to practice in Louisiana (INACTIVE) and Texas.
Although the law office of Gordon & Elias, LLP has a national scope, their New Orleans maritime lawyers have built an efficacious law practice in the city that addresses the needs of the local maritime workers. Legal matters regarding maritime issues are incredibly complex due to the myriad international, federal, and state laws. If you have been injured or if a love one has been injured or killed, you need to seek a New Orleans maritime 
lawyer who works within this specialized area and is not just a personal injury lawyer. By finding a New Orleans maritime lawyer who is knowledgeable, you will receive the legal guidance that will make the intricacies of these laws understandable, allowing you to make the best decisions for your situation. The goal of our New Orleans maritime lawyers is to put the full force of Admiralty Law and the Jones Act to work for the injured maritime worker and their family, helping them recover the compensation they deserve.
Maritime Injuries and Fatalities in New Orleans, Louisiana
At New Orleans, the water level fluctuates nearly 20 feet between the high and low stages of the Mississippi River. The unusual fluctuation requires harbor pilots and Jones Act seamen who know the river well to guide tugboats and large commercial vessels safely in and out of port.
A Jones Act seaman employed as a deckhand on a tugboat or tow boat can suffer a serious injury handling tow lines and cables used to move barges or be hurt in a fall or by getting a limb pinned between two barges. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, approximately 11 deckhands and crew employed in the maritime towing industry die each year in work-related accidents, and more than half of the deaths result from falls. A maritime worker may suffer a back injury, a knee injury, a brain injury or loss of a limb.
The lock system around New Orleans is also fraught with hazards. Algiers Lock, located just below New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River, provides an alternate waterway link from the Mississippi River to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The Industrial Canal Lock, also known as the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock One provides an important link between the Mississippi River, the GIWW, Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River-Gulf outlet. One
boat may collide with another while locking through a lock. Smaller locks require the uncoupling and reconnecting of barges. Deckhands may fall overboard while uncoupling barges or be pinned between a vessel and a gate if a barge or towboat moves unexpectedly.
Most marine vessel fatalities occurred in the area that the Coast Guard calls the Eighth District, which encompasses most of the Gulf Coast, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, according to a Coast Guard analysis of towboat accidents from 2000 to 2009. A New Orleans Jones Act towboat accident attorney can assist if you or a loved one has been injured in a maritime accident.
Maritime workers, who have been injured at work, may be offered misleading or inaccurate advice from their company?s lawyer. What is in your best interest may not coincide with what your employee feels is in their best interest since they are going to want to avoid costly lawsuits and settlements. Therefore, it is in your best interest to hire your own New Orleans maritime lawyer, one who has wide experience handling maritime lawsuits in Louisiana. If you are not sure if you are entitled to compensation under Louisiana and federal maritime and admiralty laws call our professional New Orleans maritime lawyers at 800-773-6770 or fill out the online contact form to receive a free initial consultation.
Generally speaking, maritime workers who spend at least 30% of their work time on a ship that is under navigation are eligible for compensation. This includes inland river workers and anyone who spends a significant amount of time on floating and movable structures, that may not be commonly considered a boat or ship such as offshore rigs, Jack up rigs, derrick barges, and production platforms. Also included in the group of people who 
are eligible for compensation are those maritime workers who were made to sail or work on un-seaworthy vessels, and most importantly, the loved ones left behind when someone is killed while working on a vessel or is killed due to the un-seaworthiness of the vessel. In addition, maritime law has a unique set of statutes of limitations depending upon the claim. If the file formal lawsuit for most maritime claims is not filed in the proper courts within a standard three-year, the claim may be denied. Because they thoroughly understand maritime laws, admiralty law, and the all important Jones Act, as well as all the numerous requirements for filing the claim or claims, our New Orleans maritime lawyers can comprehensively discuss legal options and proceed with the best strategy.
Supply Boat Jones Act Injury Attorneys in New Orleans, Louisiana
There are many businesses located in New Orleans that provide specialty services to the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, including oil companies Shell, BP and offshore operators such as Transocean, Ltd. New Orleans has an active offshore supply industry. Jones Act employers based in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana that serve the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico all have operations offices in New Orleans.
Offshore contractors and offshore supply companies include Apache Corp., Atwood Oceanics, Deep Marine Technology, ENSCO, Helmerich and Payne, Inc., Pride International, Rowan Companies, Tesco Corp., Parker Drilling Co., Nabors Industries, Noble Drilling Co., Superior Energy Services, Inc., Harvey Gulf International Marine, Hornbeck Offshore Services in Covington, La., Jackson Offshore Operators, Laborde Marine, L.L.C., Diamond Offshore, Tidewater, Inc,, and Otto Candies.
For example, Harvey Gulf International Marine, LLC, which has corporate offices in New Orleans, provides offshore towing services to jack-up rigs and semi-submersible rigs in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico. Its large fleet includes ocean towing vessels and offshore supply vessels (OSVs), such as Harvey War Horse, Harvey War Horse II, Harvey War Horse III, Harvey Intruder, Harvey Lightning, Harvey Thunder, Harvey Titan, Harvey Trojan, Harvey Provider, Harvey Explorer, Harvey Spirit, Harvey Supplier, Harvey Discovery, Harvey Carrier and Harvey Supporter.
To the east of New Orleans are a number of Mississippi towns and cities along the Gulf, including Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport, Biloxi, D?Iberville, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula. Many Jones Act seamen employed by New Orleans-based maritime employers reside in these communities.
By contacting our office at 800-773-6770 and speaking with a Gordon & Elias, LLP New Orleans maritime lawyer, you will better understand your rights and options under the Jones Act and other maritime laws. Our office works across the nation on behalf of injured workers, but we take a relatively small number of cases so that we can focus our attention on our clients. You will work directly with your attorney at Gordon & Elias, L.L.P., and we will make sure that you fully understand your rights and your case. We are here for you.
