SteveGordon
Registered: 03/21/09
Posts: 6
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Reply with quote | #1 |
Dear Members & Guests:
I would like to introduce myself.
I am a lawyer that lives in Houston, Texas. I came to Houston from my home state of Florida. I have also lived in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Georgia; I have three daughters ages 18, 19 & 21 [ &  ]; a wife that puts up with me; a law partner that also puts up with me; and a law practice that specializes in representing injured mariners.
I have asked Curtis if I could use this forum to answer peoples' questions that they may have regarding getting hurt while working offshore. I obviously hope no one ever gets hurt working offshore but it happens too often. Working on the water is dangerous enough but when you add the "oilfield" work component to it, it almost becomes like an accident waiting to happen.
Generally, people do not understand the legal differences between an oilfield worker who works onshore and gets hurt and one who works offshore and gets hurt. However, the differences of the controlling law are immense and need to be understood. I am not, right now in this post, going to get into the differences but wanted to explain what this Forum will hopefully accomplish.
You can ask any question you would like if it pertains to injury questions offshore and I will definitely answer them. You can even ask questions about injuries that occur onshore and I will TRY to answer them. But, I would ask, please, not to ask questions about criminal, family, civil general, corporate, and on and on. I have been practicing one kind of law for about 25 years and can assure you I do not know about this other stuff.
Finally, any advice I will give should be taken as just advice and no attorney-client relationship will be created. You should always seek the advice of counsel if you have a specific problem. If you have a specific problem related to you or a family member and do not want to POST it for the world to see, you can email me directly at sgordon@gordon-elias.com and I will respond.
Once again, I want to thank Curtis and the Forum Members for giving me this opportunity to talk about the law.
Sincerely,
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Steve Gordon
http://www.offshoreinjuries.com
1-800-773-6770
713-668-9999 |
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Randi
Registered: 07/01/07
Posts: 449
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Reply with quote | #2 |
Great to have you here Steve! We are looking forward to your posts and appreciate the time you are willing to spend
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Mama |
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JBRD102
Registered: 07/29/07
Posts: 713
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Reply with quote | #3 |
Welcome, Steve. Even tho I hope not to get my feet wet, it will be nice to learn.
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I'm fix'n to go Michael Vick on your pitbull butt...... |
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SteveGordon
Registered: 03/21/09
Posts: 6
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SteveGordon
Registered: 03/21/09
Posts: 6
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Reply with quote | #5 |
The below was part of what our search engine optimizer person asked us to create to "draw" traffic to our firm's website. They turn around and “publish” it everywhere. There were many different topics. So, it is little bit "business getting" oriented. Believe me there was a lot I took out about how great our firm is to "mellow" it for a member post. But, I thought that the informative stuff was good for ya'll to know, so I am posting it. HERE IT IS:
The Jones Act is a Federal Law. That is, it is substantively the same in all fifty (50) states including D.C., Guam and all other United States Territories. However, the “Savings to Suitors” clause in the United States Constitution gives the absolute right to a seaman to file suit in a state court regardless of diversity among the parties to the lawsuit. The practical effects of a state court filing are procedural rather than substantive. Maritime work has never been easy. It has never been without risk, and that is as true now as it has ever been. While the concept of maintenance and cure has been in place for hundreds of years, the federal government eventually decided that it was necessary to formalize and standardize employee protections.
The result was the Merchant Marine act of 1920 or the Jones Act. If you have suffered an offshore injury in the course and scope of employment of your work, then you may recover compensation for your injuries under the Jones Act. Before there were interstates, airlines and even railroads, maritime workers formed the foundation of commerce, trade and industry throughout the world. Today's seamen are part of an ancient tradition and a profession that has been in place as long as civilization. The Jones Act formally codified in federal maritime law protections for injured workers that had been established for centuries. It allows workers who have been injured in their work on US flagged vessels, through the negligence of a ship-owner, captain or fellow employee, a federally recognized protection to recover compensation for damages. For families and individuals who may be facing expensive medical bills, rehabilitation, lost wages, diminished earning potential and, in the most serious cases, funeral expenses, the protections of the Jones Act are crucial.
The “Savings to Suitors Clause”
As Discussed above, the Jones act is federal law. The reason the Congress did this is so there would be uniformity (comity) among the states in application of the law. However, seaman are afforded very special protection. For example, if a person lives in Louisiana and they get hit in Louisiana while driving their car by a truck and the truck driver/owner lives in Mississippi, then the case will be in federal court because there is “diversity of citizenship” (the party on one side of the lawsuit [the plaintiff] is from a different state than the party on the other side [the defendant]=”diversity of citizenship”) and, therefore, if the amount in controversy is above $75,000.00, the case will remain in Federal Court. This is true even if, initially, the plaintiff sued in a state court because the defendant would simply “remove” it to federal court. However, a Jones Act plaintiff is not subject to this “removal” and has an absolute right to choose their forum.
The problem that this presents to the typical practitioner is that they are wholly unfamiliar and “afraid” of state courts they are not licensed in because they are not familiar with the Rules of Civil Procedure in that particular state. Also, only a very small percentage of lawyers actually are licensed in Federal Court and an even smaller percentage actually practice regularly in Federal Court. Hence, they are also “scared” of Federal Court. What this practically means is that if a Jones Act plaintiff hires just any lawyer, they are, in essence, sealing their fate because the lawyer does not consider ALL the potential venues that the case could be filed. This is not a good thing and, therefore, an injured seaman should only hire a Jones Act Law Firm that has lawyers that are familiar with almost all states' Rules of Civil Procedure and certainly with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Being timid is not the kind of lawyer that you want representing you.
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Steve Gordon
http://www.offshoreinjuries.com
1-800-773-6770
713-668-9999 |
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