Choosing to engage a Jones Act lawyer is a major decision which shouldn’t be taken lightly. Your Jones Act attorney must be skilled and knowledgeable in Jones Act law, and must know the best course of action to get the financial compensation to which you are legally entitled.

Indeed, it is your legal right under 1920’s Jones Act to claim economic recovery for your losses in the event of an injury while working on the job as a seaman, sailor or maritime worker, as well as a worker on a mobile offshore oil rig or oil platform.

Your Jones Act rights are protected by federal law and through the federal courts system. These rights extend farther than the rights provided by Workers’ Compensation. Under the Jones Act, an injured maritime worker may make a clam for compensation for his or her lost salary, medical costs, transportation costs, contract benefits and costs for disabilities.

In order to exercise this legal option, it’s vital that an injured worker making such a claim  engage an experienced Jones Act lawyer. Your Jones Act lawyer must be able to establish that your injuries were the result of unseaworthiness of a vessel, or the result of negligence by its captain, crew or owners.

If that is the case, you have the legal option of moving ahead with a Jones Act lawsuit to gain  financial compensation for your losses.

Keep in mind that the Jones Act is elaborate and covers many things. The important thing for an injured maritime worker to know is that Chapter 18 of the Act covers catastrophic injury or wrongful death to a seaman.

Your Jones Act lawsuit is under the jurisdiction of the court of the district where the defendant owner or employer lives, or where the defendant’s main office is based. It is your right under the Jones Act to sue this owner or employer for injuries suffered due to unseaworthiness or negligence. You may live in a different state than your employers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sue them under the Jones Act.

However, you also have a right, under the Savings to Suitors clause of the Constitution, to have your case tried in a state court.

Another legal option for such injured maritime workers is known as “maintenance and cure.” This involves money paid by an employer to an injured employee for “maintenance” or daily subsistence so the worker can endure economically during a period out of work. It also involves “cure,” or payments by the employer to cover medical costs while an employee is recovering from an injury suffered on the job.

You also should know that even if you work on an offshore rig, you may be covered by the Jones Act. The key is that the rig or platform be mobile, of which many kinds are operating, including drill ships, semi-submersibles, jack-up rigs, spar platforms, MODUs (mobile offshore drilling units) and lay barges.

In other words, you may have many legal options to claim compensation under the Jones Act. Alert a knowledgeable Jones Act lawyer today and let him or her help you explore these legal options as you consider a Jones Act lawsuit.