Maritime Law & Jones Act

Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP has extensive experience in Maritime Law and Jones Act work. We have handled cases involving enormous oil spills caused by large corporations, and injuries to individuals under the Jones Act.

Maritime law is a wide-ranging area of law covering all navigable waterways, and even though federal courts have primary jurisdiction, maritime law also can be tried in the state courts. It can include environmental issues, shipping collisions, negligent production, design and construction of water craft, injuries to seamen aboard vessels, such as slip and fall, or injuries from equipment aboard the vessel, and numerous other problems.

Jones Act litigation is basically workers compensation law for seamen, yet it does not contain the limitations of workers compensation law. The Jones Act covers anyone working on a vessel on "navigable waterways", which has been broadly interpreted by the courts to include just about any body of water.