Within the American court system, seamen and maritime workers have a favored status within the court system. American maritime law considers seamen to be a ward of the Admiralty Court, placing them in a unique position to have their rights protected in the same way the rights of minors are defended and upheld.
Thanks to this status, maritime law is given the ability to protect seamen more cohesively and thoroughly than nearly every other class of worker. This status as wards has proven invaluable in countless legal battles and court cases over the decades, and its importance to maritime workers cannot be overstated. Your status as a ward of the court was fought for by generations of seafaring brethren before you, and was paid for by the loss of limbs, eyes, and even lives of those brave workers that set out to defend their rights as workers and as humans. The duty then falls to us as maritime lawyers and fellow seamen to fight for these rights at all costs. Only by continuing to exercise and demonstrate these rights time and time again, will we be able to keep and maintain them.
Under the Jones Act, the courts of the United States protect the lives, wellness, and financial well-being of any worker sailing aboard or working for a ship flying the U.S. flag. No matter if the vessel is sailing in domestic or international waters, the court system is designed to defend your rights as a valued and protected class of worker responsible for driving trade and industry throughout the world. These laws are in place to prevent, negligent, greedy, or lazy shipowners from taking advantage of the seamen keeping their business afloat – or worse, putting them in danger.
The legal favor afforded you as a Ward of the Court is your sovereign right as a maritime worker. If you need your rights defended against the onslaught of money-grubbing shipowners and corporations, contact the Jones Act attorneys of O’Bryan Law today. Our loyalties are always with the worker, never to the company.
