Pompano Beach Maritime Lawyer

People who work on and around vessels fall outside Florida’s workers compensation system, and the federal schemes that replace it are more generous in some respects and stricter in others. Which one applies to you depends on your job, your vessel, and where you were standing. Jacobson Injury Firm represents injured maritime workers and passengers across Broward County.

Attorney Adam Jacobson handles every case personally. Contact us today for a free consultation, and see our broader Pompano Beach personal injury practice for related claims. Recreational boating incidents are covered on our boat accident page.

The Standard of Proof Is Lower Than in Any Other Injury Case

This is the most valuable thing a seaman can know about the Jones Act, codified at 46 U.S.C. section 30104, and it is rarely explained plainly. In an ordinary negligence case you must prove the defendant’s carelessness was a proximate cause of your injury. Under the Jones Act you need only show that employer negligence played some part, however slight, in producing the harm.

That standard, sometimes called featherweight causation, comes from a line of United States Supreme Court decisions and it changes the arithmetic of these cases substantially. A contributing factor is enough. It does not have to be the main cause, or even a significant one.

Two further points work in a seaman’s favor. Jones Act claims apply pure comparative fault, so a worker found partly responsible has recovery reduced by that percentage but is never barred, unlike Florida’s rule that ends a claim past 50 percent. And a seaman is entitled to a jury trial on a Jones Act claim, which is not automatic elsewhere in admiralty.

A Seaman Has Three Separate Claims, Not One

Maritime law gives an injured crew member three independent remedies, and a claim that fails on one can still succeed on another. Pursuing all three is standard practice, and leaving one out is how value gets lost.

• Jones Act negligence. Against the employer, for negligence of the employer, the captain, or a fellow crew member, using the featherweight standard above.
• Against the vessel owner, and this one requires no negligence at all. A vessel and its equipment must be reasonably fit for their intended purpose. A defective winch, an understaffed watch, a slippery deck, an unsafe method of work, or an incompetent crew member can each render a vessel unseaworthy, and the owner is liable regardless of whether it knew. This is a strict liability claim and it is frequently stronger than the negligence claim beside it.
• Maintenance and cure. Owed regardless of fault. A seaman who falls ill or is injured in the service of the vessel is entitled to daily living expenses and medical treatment until maximum medical improvement, whether or not anyone did anything wrong. It is not contingent on winning anything.

Maintenance and cure carries a further point employers do not advertise. Where a shipowner unreasonably refuses to pay it, the Supreme Court has held that punitive damages and attorney’s fees may be available. That exposure is real leverage where a company has stopped payments to pressure a worker into settling.

Seaman, Longshore Worker, or Neither

Your status determines your entire claim, and employers litigate it aggressively because the difference is enormous. The three categories do not overlap.

Seamen

A seaman must have a connection to a vessel in navigation that is substantial in both duration and nature. Courts have used roughly 30 percent of working time aboard as a guideline rather than a fixed rule, and the work must contribute to the vessel’s function or mission. Captains, crew, engineers, deckhands, and many cruise ship staff qualify. Seamen are excluded from workers compensation entirely and rely on the three remedies above.

Longshore and Harbor Workers

Workers who load, unload, build, repair, or dismantle vessels are covered instead by the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, administered by the United States Department of Labor. It operates like a federal workers compensation scheme, providing benefits without proof of fault but generally barring a negligence suit against the employer. A separate provision at 33 U.S.C. section 905(b) preserves a negligence claim against the vessel owner, which is frequently where the real recovery lies.

Everyone Else

Marina staff, boatyard employees, and yard workers whose duties are not maritime in the required sense may fall under Florida workers compensation, with the third-party analysis our construction accident page describes. Visitors, contractors, and guests injured on a dock or aboard a moored vessel may have an ordinary premises liability claim instead.

Settling this question early matters more than almost anything else in the case, because it determines the deadline, the remedies, the court, and whether a jury decides it.

Passengers and the Ticket You Never Read

Anyone injured aboard a cruise or commercial passenger vessel faces restrictions written into the ticket rather than into general law, and they are enforceable. Federal law at 46 U.S.C. section 30527 permits a carrier to require written notice of a claim within six months and suit within one year of injury, and most major lines impose exactly those limits.

Tickets also contain forum selection clauses. Many of the largest operators require suit in a single designated court, commonly the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, regardless of where the passenger lives or where the injury occurred. Foreign crew contracts frequently contain arbitration clauses that are likewise enforced. A passenger who waits fourteen months and then files in the wrong court has usually lost the claim outright, and that happens regularly.

Your Deadline Is Three Years, Unless It Is One

Maritime personal injury and death claims generally carry a three-year limitation period under 46 U.S.C. section 30106, which is longer than the two years Florida now allows for ordinary negligence under Florida Statute 95.11. Longshore claims follow their own administrative deadlines, with prompt written notice to the employer required and a claim filed within the statutory period.

Passenger claims are the exception and they run far shorter, as described above. Because the deadline depends entirely on which status and which scheme applies, the analysis has to happen in the first weeks rather than at leisure. Our statute of limitations resource covers the Florida framework for comparison.

Why Choose Jacobson Injury Firm for Your Pompano Beach Maritime Claim?

Command of the Rules That Decide These Cases

Maritime claims are decided by classification before they are decided by facts. Establishing status, identifying which of the three seaman remedies apply, and locating the vessel owner as a defendant distinct from the employer is the work that determines value. Claims proceeding in state court arise through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County, and admiralty claims may proceed in federal court instead.

Demonstrated Results for Injured Clients

The firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients across serious injury matters. Our client reviews describe how the firm communicates through complex cases.

No Attorney Fees Unless You Recover

Maritime claims at the firm run on contingency. Nothing is owed at the outset, we advance case costs including marine survey and expert analysis, and no recovery means no fee.

Key Components of a Pompano Beach Maritime Claim

The Accident Report You Are Asked to Sign

A maritime employer will produce an incident report within hours and ask the injured worker to sign it. It is frequently written to describe the injury as minor, to attribute it to the worker’s own carelessness, or to record that no equipment failure occurred. Read it before signing and correct anything inaccurate. Where a worker is medicated or in pain, signing can wait. That document becomes the central piece of evidence for the rest of the case.

Preserving Conditions That Change With the Tide

Vessels sail, cargo moves, decks get cleaned, and defective equipment gets repaired or replaced within days. Photographs of the condition, the equipment, the lighting, and the work method are frequently the only proof an unseaworthiness claim will ever have. Crew rosters, maintenance logs, safety meeting records, and prior incident reports sit with the employer and require a preservation demand.

The Company Doctor Is Not Your Doctor

Maritime employers commonly direct injured workers to a physician of the company’s choosing. That physician’s opinion about maximum medical improvement determines when maintenance and cure payments stop. A seaman is entitled to seek an independent opinion, and where two physicians disagree, doubts about entitlement to cure are generally resolved in the seaman’s favor. Workers who accept the company assessment without a second opinion lose benefits they remained entitled to.

Identifying the Vessel Owner Separately From the Employer

Employer and owner are frequently different entities, and that distinction creates the unseaworthiness claim and, for longshore workers, the section 905(b) claim that survives the compensation bar. Charterers, managers, and operating companies may each be separate parties. Determining who is at fault here means mapping corporate structure as much as reconstructing the incident.

Calculating Damages

Damages under the Jones Act and general maritime law cover medical care, lost earnings, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and disability. Crushing injuries, falls into holds, and line failures produce catastrophic harm, engine room incidents cause burns, and falls aboard cause head injuries. Where equipment failed, a product liability claim may run against the manufacturer alongside the maritime claims.

“Excellent service and results. Attorney Jacobson was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my case. They explained everything clearly and delivered great results.”

Isaac M.

Maritime Claims We Handle

Crew and Deckhand Injuries

Falls on wet or oily decks, line and winch failures, crushing injuries during mooring and docking, and injuries from inadequate manning. Fatigue from excessive hours is a recurring cause and a documented one, since watch schedules exist in writing.

Engine Room and Machinery Incidents

Burns from steam and hot surfaces, injuries from unguarded machinery, electrical incidents, and exposure to fumes in confined spaces. Lockout and confined space failures are governed by established safety standards.

Longshore, Dock, and Cargo Handling

Injuries loading and unloading vessels, crane and forklift incidents, falling cargo, and container handling. Maritime safety standards apply to shoreside operations and inform the standard of care in a vessel owner claim.

Shipyard, Boatyard, and Repair Work

Injuries during haul out, hull work, welding, and blasting. Boatyard operations along the waterway involve heavy lifts and unstable vessels supported on stands, and failures produce severe crush injuries.

Passenger and Charter Injuries

Falls aboard, injuries during boarding and disembarking, inadequate handrails, and incidents on excursions. Notice and suit deadlines written into the ticket apply and are short.

Diving and Overboard Incidents

Commercial diving operations, man overboard events, and delayed rescue. Oxygen deprivation causes permanent brain injury even where the person is recovered alive.

Fatal Maritime Incidents

Maritime death claims follow their own framework, and which statute applies depends on status and where the death occurred, including whether it happened beyond United States territorial waters. Those rules differ from the Florida framework covered on our wrongful death page. See all practice areas.

Maritime Work in Pompano Beach

The city sits in one of the densest marine service corridors in the country. Marinas, boatyards, and repair facilities line the Intracoastal Waterway, handling haul outs, hull work, engine service, and refits on vessels ranging from small craft to large yachts. Crewed charter and sportfishing operations run out of the Hillsboro Inlet daily, and the yacht service industry concentrated across the Fort Lauderdale area draws crew and yard workers throughout Broward County. Commercial dive operations work the reef line and artificial reef sites offshore. Cargo moving through Port Everglades to the south adds longshore activity within reach of local workers. The United States Coast Guard investigates marine casualties, Broward County and the City of Pompano Beach operate public marine facilities, and claims against those entities carry their own notice requirements.

What to Do After a Maritime Injury

• Report the injury to the captain or supervisor immediately and in writing. Maritime notice requirements are short, and an unreported injury becomes a disputed one.
• Read any incident report before signing it and correct anything inaccurate. Do not sign a description you disagree with, and do not sign while medicated.
• Photograph the equipment, the deck, the lighting, and the conditions before the vessel sails or anything is repaired.
• Get names and contact details for every crew member present. Crews rotate and disperse internationally, and witnesses become unreachable quickly.
• Accept treatment but understand that a company-directed physician answers to the company. You may seek your own opinion, particularly about whether you have reached maximum medical improvement.
• Speak with a lawyer before signing any release, settlement, or repatriation agreement, and before accepting a lump sum framed as maintenance. Decline recorded statements until then, and see our guide to insurance companies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I covered by workers compensation if I work on a boat?

Probably not, if you qualify as a seaman. Seamen are excluded from state workers compensation and rely instead on the Jones Act, unseaworthiness, and maintenance and cure. Longshore and harbor workers fall under a separate federal compensation scheme. Marina and yard workers whose duties are not maritime in the required sense may remain under Florida workers compensation.

What makes someone a seaman?

A connection to a vessel in navigation that is substantial in both duration and nature. Courts have used roughly 30 percent of working time aboard as a guideline rather than a strict rule, and the work must contribute to the vessel’s function or mission. Employers contest this classification aggressively because it changes everything about the claim.

Is the Jones Act standard really easier to meet?

Yes. You need only show that employer negligence played some part, however slight, in causing your injury. That is a materially lower standard than ordinary negligence, and it is the single biggest advantage a seaman has.

What is unseaworthiness and why does it matter?

It is a separate claim against the vessel owner requiring no proof of negligence at all. A vessel and its equipment must be reasonably fit for their purpose, and a defective winch, a slippery deck, an unsafe work method, or an undermanned crew can each make a vessel unseaworthy. The owner is liable whether or not it knew, which frequently makes this the stronger of the two claims.

What is maintenance and cure?

Daily living expenses and medical treatment owed to a seaman injured or taken ill in the service of the vessel, payable regardless of fault and continuing until maximum medical improvement. It is not contingent on proving anything. Where an employer unreasonably refuses to pay, punitive damages and attorney’s fees may be available.

The company doctor says I am at maximum medical improvement. Is that final?

No. That physician is selected and paid by your employer, and the finding conveniently ends maintenance and cure payments. You are entitled to seek an independent opinion, and where qualified physicians disagree, doubts about entitlement to cure are generally resolved in the seaman’s favor.

How long do I have to file a maritime claim?

Generally three years for maritime personal injury and death claims, longer than Florida’s two years for ordinary negligence. Longshore claims follow separate administrative deadlines. Passenger claims against cruise and commercial carriers are far shorter, often requiring written notice within six months and suit within one year.

I was hurt on a cruise. Why does my ticket matter?

Because federal law lets carriers impose notice and suit deadlines in the ticket, and most do: six months to give written notice and one year to sue. Tickets also commonly require suit in one designated court regardless of where you live. Passengers who wait and then file in the wrong place lose valid claims, and it happens often.

Can I sue the vessel owner if I am a longshore worker?

Often yes. The longshore compensation scheme generally bars a negligence suit against your employer, but a separate provision preserves a negligence claim against the vessel owner. Where employer and owner are different entities, that claim is frequently where the meaningful recovery lies.

How much does a maritime lawyer cost?

Our firm works on a contingency fee, so nothing is owed at the outset. These cases carry costs for marine survey and expert analysis, and we advance them. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed and the consultation is free.

Speak With a Pompano Beach Maritime Lawyer

Vessels sail, crews rotate, and equipment gets repaired within days of an incident. Passenger deadlines can run in months rather than years, and the classification question that decides your entire claim is best answered before anyone signs anything. Consultations are free and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call (561) 567-7163 or send us a message. The firm also serves Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, with the full list on our areas we serve page and further reading in our personal injury resources and blog.