A Houston longshore claims lawyer represents maritime workers and their families injured in the course of dock, shipyard, terminal, and offshore platform work. At Amaro Law Firm, our attorneys handle Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) benefit claims, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act extensions of LHWCA, Defense Base Act claims, and the third-party vessel negligence claims that can substantially exceed LHWCA benefits.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq.) is a federal workers’ compensation system covering maritime workers who are not Jones Act seamen. Injured workers must give written notice of injury within 30 days under 33 U.S.C. § 912 and file a claim within one year under 33 U.S.C. § 913 (two years for occupational diseases). LHWCA pays medical benefits and indemnity benefits at two-thirds of average weekly wage but does not include pain and suffering. Section 905(b) of the Act preserves third-party negligence claims against vessel owners — where full tort damages, including pain and suffering, remain available. Amaro Law Firm represents Texas LHWCA claimants on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Compiled by Amaro Law Firm — Texas-licensed trial attorneys serving Houston, Galveston, Port Arthur, Corpus Christi, and maritime workers across the Texas Gulf Coast.
Call 713-352-7975 for a free, confidential consultation.
If You Were Hurt as a Longshore or Maritime Worker, You Are Not Alone
If you are reading this page, you are likely in one of three situations.
You were hurt working on a dock, in a shipyard, on a marine terminal, or in another maritime worksite. Your employer told you to file workers’ compensation. You are not sure whether you are covered by Texas workers’ comp, the federal LHWCA, or something else.
You were injured on a fixed platform on the Outer Continental Shelf — typically working for a service contractor — and you have been told you are LHWCA-covered rather than a Jones Act seaman. You are wondering whether that is correct and whether you have other claims.
Or you filed an LHWCA claim, and the insurance carrier has denied benefits, terminated benefits, paid you less than you believe is owed, or sent you to a “neutral” medical examiner whose report happens to favor the carrier.
This page answers the questions Texas longshore and maritime workers ask most often. For the broader maritime injury framework, see our Texas Maritime & Offshore Injury Lawyer hub page.
What Is the LHWCA?
The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, codified at 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., is a federal workers’ compensation statute covering maritime workers who do not qualify as Jones Act seamen. Originally enacted in 1927 and significantly amended in 1972, the LHWCA provides:
- Medical benefits covering all reasonable and necessary treatment for the work-related injury
- Indemnity benefits covering lost wages at two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to statutory maximums
- Permanent impairment awards for workers with lasting injuries, including “scheduled” awards for specific body parts and “unscheduled” awards based on loss of earning capacity
- Death benefits for surviving spouses and dependents of workers killed on the job
- Vocational rehabilitation for workers who cannot return to their pre-injury employment
LHWCA claims are administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and adjudicated by federal Administrative Law Judges (ALJs). Adverse decisions can be appealed to the Benefits Review Board and from there to the federal Court of Appeals — for Texas claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The Status and Situs Tests
To be covered by the LHWCA, an injured worker must satisfy two tests — both must apply.
Status test. The worker must be engaged in “maritime employment” — generally, work that is integral to the loading, unloading, building, repairing, or breaking of vessels. The U.S. Supreme Court has read the status requirement broadly to include not just longshoremen but also shipyard workers, ship repairers, ship breakers, and many supporting roles.
Situs test. The injury must occur on navigable waters of the United States or on an “adjoining area customarily used by an employer in loading, unloading, repairing, dismantling, or building a vessel.” Adjoining areas include piers, docks, terminals, wharves, and shipping yards directly connected to maritime operations.
Examples of workers commonly covered by LHWCA include:
- Longshoremen and stevedores loading and unloading cargo
- Container handlers, crane operators, and forklift operators at marine terminals
- Shipyard welders, fitters, painters, and machinists
- Ship repair workers and ship breakers
- Marine terminal workers
- Pile drivers and harbor construction workers
- Marine fuelers and bunker workers
Some maritime workers fall into a “twilight zone” where they may have a choice between LHWCA benefits and state workers’ compensation. Texas has its own state workers’ compensation system, and the choice between systems requires careful legal analysis.
LHWCA Extensions: OCSLA and the Defense Base Act
The LHWCA’s reach extends beyond the dockside through two important statutory extensions.
The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act extension. Under 43 U.S.C. § 1333(b), workers injured on fixed platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf are covered by LHWCA — even though they are not on navigable waters or an adjoining area in the traditional sense. This applies to thousands of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas workers employed by drilling contractors, well operators, and service companies on platforms beyond state waters.
The Defense Base Act. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1651, civilian contractors working overseas for the U.S. military, U.S. government agencies, or on contracts funded by the U.S. government are covered by an extension of LHWCA. The Defense Base Act has produced a substantial body of case law involving contractors injured in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other overseas locations.
Both extensions apply LHWCA’s substantive benefits and procedural rules — but the situs analysis is different. For OCS workers, the platform is the qualifying situs. For Defense Base Act workers, the overseas worksite qualifies.
LHWCA Benefits in Detail
LHWCA benefits fall into four indemnity categories, plus medical benefits.
Temporary Total Disability (TTD). For workers unable to work at all while recovering. Paid at two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage (AWW), subject to a national maximum tied to the National Average Weekly Wage.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD). For workers who can do some work during recovery but at reduced earning capacity. Paid at two-thirds of the difference between pre-injury AWW and post-injury earning capacity.
Permanent Total Disability (PTD). For workers permanently unable to return to gainful employment. Paid at two-thirds of AWW with annual cost-of-living increases.
Permanent Partial Disability (PPD). For workers with lasting impairments who can return to some work. PPD has two forms:
- Scheduled awards for specific body parts, with statutory numbers of weeks of benefits — for example, 312 weeks for loss of an arm, 288 weeks for a leg, 244 weeks for a hand, 205 weeks for a foot. Hearing and vision losses also have statutory schedules.
- Unscheduled awards for injuries not on the schedule, based on loss of earning capacity calculated from comparison of pre-injury wages to post-injury wage-earning capacity.
Death benefits. Surviving spouses receive 50% of the worker’s AWW for life or until remarriage (with an additional lump sum on remarriage). Each surviving child receives an additional 16⅔% of AWW, up to a combined family maximum of two-thirds of AWW.
Medical benefits. All reasonable and necessary medical treatment for the work injury, with no cap and no co-pays. The worker has the right to choose the treating physician under 33 U.S.C. § 907(b).
What LHWCA does not cover: Pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, punitive damages, and full lost future earnings (LHWCA caps replace tort recovery for these losses). These categories of damages are available only through Section 905(b) third-party claims described below.
Section 905(b): Third-Party Vessel Negligence Claims
The LHWCA limits direct claims against the employer to the workers’ compensation system. But Section 905(b) of the Act, codified at 33 U.S.C. § 905(b), expressly preserves negligence claims against vessel owners — and these claims can substantially exceed LHWCA benefits because full tort damages are available.
Section 905(b) claims arise when a longshore worker is injured by the negligence of a vessel — typically when loading or unloading a ship. Common Section 905(b) theories include:
- Active operations duty. If the vessel is involved in active operations during the worker’s activity, the vessel owner owes a duty of reasonable care.
- Turnover duty. When the vessel turns over an area to longshore operations, the owner owes a duty to warn of hidden dangers known to the owner.
- Duty to intervene. When the vessel knows of a dangerous condition that develops during operations and that the stevedore cannot remedy, the vessel must intervene.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Scindia Steam Navigation Co. v. De Los Santos (1981) established the framework for these duties, often referred to as the “Scindia duties.”
Damages available in Section 905(b) cases include the full range of tort damages — past and future medical expenses, past and future lost earnings (uncapped), pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of consortium. LHWCA benefits paid are subject to subrogation by the LHWCA carrier, but the net recovery in 905(b) cases frequently exceeds what LHWCA alone would pay.
Identifying and pursuing every viable Section 905(b) claim is one of the most important parts of any LHWCA case where a vessel was involved in the worker’s injury.
How Employers and Insurers Defend LHWCA Claims
LHWCA carriers operate within a defined statutory system, but they have several recurring defense playbooks.
Status and situs challenges. The first line of defense is often arguing the worker does not satisfy the status or situs test — and is therefore not covered by LHWCA at all. This shifts the worker to state workers’ comp (typically with lower benefits and shorter durations) or to no workers’ comp coverage.
Average weekly wage disputes. Because all indemnity benefits are calculated as a percentage of AWW, carriers contest the AWW calculation aggressively. Overtime, shift differentials, bonuses, and tip income often get excluded by the carrier’s initial calculation and must be added back through litigation.
Independent medical examinations. Carriers send claimants to “independent” medical examiners whose reports tend to favor the carrier — finding workers have reached maximum medical improvement earlier than the treating physician believes, or finding lower impairment ratings. Claimants have the right to their own treating physician and can challenge IME reports.
“Suitable alternative employment” defense. To defeat a permanent total disability claim, the carrier must show “suitable alternative employment” is available to the worker. Carriers hire vocational experts to identify supposedly available jobs — which often do not actually exist in the worker’s labor market or do not accommodate the worker’s restrictions.
Section 8(f) Special Fund maneuvers. The Special Fund under 33 U.S.C. § 908(f) can relieve the employer of liability after 104 weeks of permanent disability payments in certain second-injury cases. Carriers maneuver for Section 8(f) coverage to shift their liability, which can complicate settlement negotiations.
Denials and delays. Some carriers deny meritorious claims hoping the worker will give up. LHWCA has a recurring pattern of contested cases that eventually settle or result in compensation orders after months or years of administrative litigation.
Common Mistakes in LHWCA Claims
Five mistakes hurt longshore claims more than any others.
- Missing the 30-day notice deadline. Written notice of injury must be given to the employer within 30 days under 33 U.S.C. § 912. Late notice can be excused in limited circumstances, but the rule is strict and missing it complicates the claim significantly.
- Missing the one-year claim filing deadline. The claim itself must be filed within one year of the date of injury or the date of last payment of compensation under 33 U.S.C. § 913. For occupational diseases, the limit is two years from the date the worker became aware of the work-relatedness of the disease. Missing the deadline can bar the claim entirely.
- Returning to work too early. Workers who return before reaching maximum medical improvement risk reinjury and can compromise their impairment ratings.
- Settling LHWCA benefits without considering Section 905(b) claims. Many LHWCA claimants settle their workers’ comp benefits without realizing they may have substantial Section 905(b) vessel negligence claims. Once the LHWCA settlement is approved by the ALJ, reopening it is extremely difficult.
- Trying to handle the case alone. The LHWCA is one of the most procedurally complex workers’ compensation systems in the country. Under 33 U.S.C. § 928, when the worker prevails on a contested issue, the carrier pays the worker’s attorney fees — meaning the worker may have legal representation at no out-of-pocket cost on the LHWCA claim itself.
How Amaro Law Firm Handles Houston LHWCA Claims
Our process is built around the procedural realities of LHWCA litigation and the strategic importance of Section 905(b) claims.
Step 1: Status and situs analysis. We determine whether the worker is LHWCA-covered, OCSLA-extended, DBA-covered, or potentially a Jones Act seaman — the threshold question that controls everything that follows.
Step 2: Notice and claim filing. We ensure the LS-203 claim form is properly filed within statutory deadlines and that the 30-day employer notice requirement has been satisfied.
Step 3: Benefits calculation and challenge. We calculate the worker’s correct average weekly wage — including overtime, shift differentials, and other components carriers often exclude — and challenge underpayment.
Step 4: Medical management. We help the worker select a qualified treating physician under § 907(b) and respond to carrier-requested IME demands.
Step 5: Third-party investigation. We investigate whether a vessel, equipment manufacturer, third-party contractor, or property owner contributed to the injury — and whether Section 905(b) or other third-party claims are available.
Step 6: Coordinated litigation. Where both an LHWCA claim and a Section 905(b) claim exist, we coordinate the two — with the LHWCA case proceeding administratively before the OWCP and ALJ, and the third-party case proceeding in federal or state court. Coordination prevents settlement of one from compromising the other.
Step 7: ALJ hearings and appeals. When the case cannot be resolved informally, we represent the worker at formal hearings before an ALJ. Adverse decisions can be appealed to the Benefits Review Board and from there to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Why Choose Amaro Law Firm for Your Houston LHWCA Case
- Trial attorneys, not paper-pushers. Our litigators handle both the administrative LHWCA case and any third-party Section 905(b) tort claim, and have experience taking cases through state district courts, federal courts, and the Texas Courts of Appeals.
- Resources for maritime cases. Maritime claims require longshore claims specialists, vocational experts, life-care planners, and economists. We front those costs.
- Houston-based. Our principal office is in Houston, with attorneys familiar with the OWCP district office and the Texas state and federal courts where maritime cases are heard.
- Specialized counsel coordination when needed. Complex multi-claim cases involving Jones Act, LHWCA, Section 905(b), and product liability claims sometimes warrant coordination with specialized maritime trial counsel. We coordinate to position the case for the best result.
- Fee structure favorable to claimants. Under 33 U.S.C. § 928, when you prevail on a contested LHWCA issue, the carrier pays your attorney fees. For third-party claims, we work on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we recover compensation.
- 24/7 availability. We respond around the clock.
Recent Maritime, LHWCA, and Catastrophic Injury Case Results
[INSERT 3 CASE RESULTS — LHWCA, MARITIME, OR CATASTROPHIC INJURY — WITH SETTLEMENT/AWARD AMOUNTS, INJURY TYPE, AND BRIEF FACTS]
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case is evaluated on its individual facts.
Houston LHWCA Claims FAQ
How long do I have to file an LHWCA claim?
Two deadlines matter. Written notice of injury must be given to the employer within 30 days under 33 U.S.C. § 912. The claim itself must be filed within one year of the date of injury or the date of last payment of compensation under 33 U.S.C. § 913. For occupational diseases, the limit is two years from the date the worker became aware of the work-relatedness of the disease. Missing either deadline can bar the claim entirely.
Who is covered by the LHWCA?
To be covered by the LHWCA, an injured worker must satisfy two tests. The status test requires the worker to be engaged in maritime employment — generally, work that is integral to the loading, unloading, building, repairing, or breaking of vessels. The situs test requires the injury to occur on navigable waters of the United States or on an adjoining area customarily used by an employer in loading, unloading, repairing, dismantling, or building a vessel. Both tests must apply.
What benefits does LHWCA pay?
LHWCA pays medical benefits (all reasonable and necessary), indemnity benefits at two-thirds of average weekly wage subject to statutory maximums, permanent impairment awards (scheduled and unscheduled), death benefits to surviving family members, and vocational rehabilitation. LHWCA does not cover pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, or punitive damages — those categories of damages are available only through Section 905(b) third-party claims or other tort actions.
What is a Section 905(b) claim?
Section 905(b) of the LHWCA, codified at 33 U.S.C. § 905(b), expressly preserves negligence claims against vessel owners. When a longshore worker is injured by the negligence of a vessel — typically when loading or unloading a ship — the worker can pursue a Section 905(b) claim in addition to LHWCA benefits. Full tort damages, including pain and suffering and lost future earnings, are available in Section 905(b) cases. Identifying and pursuing every viable Section 905(b) claim is one of the most important parts of any LHWCA case where a vessel was involved.
Am I covered by LHWCA if I work on an offshore oil platform?
Workers injured on fixed platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf are covered by LHWCA under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act extension at 43 U.S.C. § 1333(b). This applies to thousands of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas workers employed by drilling contractors, well operators, and service companies on platforms beyond state waters. Note that workers on mobile offshore drilling units that float or move — including jackup rigs, drillships, and semi-submersible rigs — may instead qualify as Jones Act seamen rather than LHWCA workers. The distinction is critical.
What is the Defense Base Act?
The Defense Base Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1651, extends LHWCA coverage to civilian contractors working overseas for the U.S. military, U.S. government agencies, or on contracts funded by the U.S. government. The Defense Base Act has produced a substantial body of case law involving contractors injured in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other overseas locations.
How much does a Houston LHWCA lawyer cost?
Under 33 U.S.C. § 928, when you prevail on a contested LHWCA issue, the carrier pays your attorney fees. For third-party Section 905(b) and other tort claims, Amaro Law Firm works on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. There are no upfront costs and no hourly fees. Our fee is a percentage of the third-party recovery, agreed to in writing before we start.
Can I sue my employer under LHWCA?
Generally, no — LHWCA is the worker’s exclusive remedy against the direct employer for covered injuries. However, third-party claims against parties other than the employer — including vessel owners, equipment manufacturers, other contractors, and property owners — remain available. Where the employer is also a vessel owner, dual capacity doctrine may apply in limited circumstances.
What if my LHWCA claim is denied?
Denial is not the end of the case. LHWCA disputes are first addressed through informal conferences with OWCP claims examiners, then through formal hearings before federal Administrative Law Judges. Adverse ALJ decisions can be appealed to the Benefits Review Board and from there to the U.S. Court of Appeals — for Texas claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Many initially denied claims are ultimately approved with proper legal representation.
Talk to a Houston LHWCA Claims Lawyer Today
If you were injured working on a dock, in a shipyard, at a marine terminal, on an offshore platform, or as a contractor on a U.S. government project overseas, time is working against you. Notice deadlines, claim filing deadlines, and evidence preservation all run on a compressed timeline. Carriers begin defending the claim before the worker has even filed.
Amaro Law Firm offers free, confidential consultations. We will review your case, explain your options under LHWCA and any available third-party claims, and tell you honestly whether we believe we can help. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call 713-352-7975 or request a free case review online.