If you were injured on an oil rig, drilling platform, well site, or oilfield service job in Louisiana or the Gulf, the legal framework that controls your case depends on where you were working and what kind of work you were doing. Our Houma oilfield injury lawyers handle every layer of Louisiana energy industry claims — Jones Act, Longshore Act, OCSLA, state negligence, and contractor liability.
At Kopfler & Hermann, our Houma oilfield injury lawyers have been representing injured Louisiana clients and their families for over 45 years from our office at 306 Grinage Street in downtown Houma. We know how the trucking companies, insurance carriers, oilfield operators, and chemical plants build their defenses — and we know how to dismantle them.
Call (985) 851-3311 for a free consultation with an experienced Houma oilfield injury lawyer today, or use our online contact form.
Oilfield work is brutally dangerous. Houma sits in the middle of one of the highest concentrations of offshore and onshore oilfield work in the country. Our Houma oilfield injury attorneys have handled cases involving:
Drilling rig accidents (Houma to Gulf and inland), well blowouts, BOP failures, flash fires, H2S exposure, falling pipe and tools, crane accidents, swing rope and personnel basket transfers, helicopter crashes, vessel collisions during crew change, and chemical spills.
This is where most oilfield injury cases get won or lost. The applicable law depends on the work location and job duties:
• Jones Act — for seamen assigned to a vessel (drillship, semi-submersible, jack-up that’s floating, supply boat).
• Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) — for maritime workers not seamen.
• Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) — for fixed platforms on the outer continental shelf.
• Louisiana state law — for onshore well sites and inland fixed locations.
Our Houma oilfield injury lawyers analyze which framework gives you the most recovery and pursue every available claim.
Louisiana oilfield work involves layers of contractors — the operator, the drilling company, the well services company, the wireline crew, the cementing crew, the casing crew, and the catering and quarters contractors. When one contractor’s negligence injures another contractor’s employee, that’s a third-party claim.
Third-party claims are critical because they allow injured workers to recover full damages from the contractor’s insurance — on top of workers’ comp from their direct employer.
Our Houma oilfield injury lawyers pursue every category of damages: past and future medical care, past and future lost wages and lost earning capacity (often substantial given oilfield pay scales), pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. For families of fatally injured workers, we pursue wrongful death damages.
Our Houma oilfield injury lawyers see the same patterns in case after case:
Our Houma office serves injured clients throughout south Louisiana:
Depends on what type of structure you were assigned to and how much of your work was on a vessel in navigation. Our Houma oilfield injury lawyers analyze your actual duties — not your job title — to determine which law applies.
Yes. Operator negligence, premises liability, and unsafe work conditions create third-party claims that go beyond workers’ comp. We routinely pursue claims against the operating company and other contractors on the worksite.
No. Do not give a recorded statement to the company, its insurer, or any adjuster until you have spoken with a Houma oilfield injury lawyer. These statements are designed to limit your claim.
Statutes vary by which law applies — three years for Jones Act, one year for Louisiana state law, varies for Longshore. Call as soon as you are medically stable.
If you are a Jones Act seaman, you have the right to maintenance (daily living allowance) and cure (full medical care) until you reach maximum medical improvement — regardless of fault.
The longer you wait, the more evidence disappears and the harder the insurance carriers fight. Call our Houma office at (985) 851-3311 for a free consultation with an experienced Houma oilfield injury lawyer, or visit us at 306 Grinage Street in downtown Houma.
Pipeline ruptures don’t just hurt workers on the line — they damage entire communities. See our breakdown of the Louisiana LOOP pipeline spill and economic-loss claims under the Oil Pollution Act.
