Offshore injuries can happen on any body of water, anywhere in the United States. From the Great Lakes to the shores of the Pacific and everywhere in between, if you’re injured on the water, American maritime law provides a number of different ways to seek justice and financial compensation for your hardships.
However, as maritime law is still something of a mystery to most Americans, many victims of an injury on the water are unsure as to their rights or what they can do to get compensated for their suffering. One of the more common questions that comes up is how the location of your injury may affect your case, or change how maritime law can cover you.
While it’s a fairly deep issue, the short answer is that American maritime law is unaffected by the region of the country in which your injury occurred. For example, many states impose caps on the amount of damages that can be awarded in the event of a personal injury. This frequently prevents an injured plaintiff from being fully and fairly compensated for their injuries.
Maritime law, however, supersedes these caps. It overrides any limit that the state may have placed on personal injury damages. While there are other facets of the law that may still impact the amount of damages you can receive, such as the Limitation of Liability Statute, maritime law ensures that state-enforced limits will not apply to your case.
This rule applies even when a maritime case is filed in state court. State courts across the country differ widely on what categories of damages can be awarded in personal injury cases. However, when a maritime claim is brought in state court, those state law limitations are superseded by the federal maritime law.
This goes for other types of maritime workers, too. Longshore workers are covered by the Longshore Act, a statute providing a remedy for longshoremen and harbor workers who are injured in the course of their employment. Cases filed under this act are handled by the United States Department of Labor—not a state workers’ compensation tribunal. This means that the same law and rules apply to these workers no matter where their case arises.
If you need a maritime lawyer to defend your rights after getting hurt on the water, O’Bryan Law will make sure your case is handled in the most effective way, no matter where in the country you were injured – or where your case might take you.
