If you were injured as a longshoreman, harbor worker, shipyard employee, dock worker, ship repair technician, or shipbreaker in Louisiana, the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) is the framework that controls your claim. Our Houma longshore and harbor workers lawyers protect Louisiana maritime employees and pursue every benefit and third-party claim available.
At Kopfler & Hermann, our Houma longshore 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 longshore lawyer today, or use our online contact form.
The Longshore Act covers maritime workers who aren’t seamen, working at qualifying maritime locations. Common covered workers in the Houma area: dock workers loading and unloading cargo, ship repair workers in shipyards, shipbuilders, fish processors, container terminal workers, and harbor pilot service crew.
If you split time between vessels and shore-based work, our Houma longshore lawyers analyze whether the Jones Act or LHWCA gives you better recovery. Misclassification is one of the most common ways injured Louisiana maritime workers lose money.
The Longshore Act provides:
• Medical care for all reasonable and necessary treatment related to your work injury — no cost to you.
• Two-thirds of your average weekly wage for total temporary disability.
• Permanent partial and permanent total disability benefits based on the body part injured and your earning loss.
• Death benefits for surviving spouses and dependent children of workers killed on the job.
• Vocational rehabilitation if you cannot return to your prior job.
Beyond workers’ comp benefits, the Longshore Act allows injured workers to sue the vessel owner when vessel negligence contributed to the injury. This is the powerful Section 905(b) third-party claim — and it unlocks full pain and suffering, lost wages, and other compensatory damages on top of workers’ comp.
Our Houma longshore attorneys aggressively investigate every potential third-party defendant on the worksite — vessel owners, contractors, equipment manufacturers, and others.
Insurance carriers under the Longshore Act routinely cut off benefits too early, refuse to pay for specialist care, push injured workers back to work before they’re ready, and challenge disability ratings. Our Houma longshore and harbor workers lawyers fight these tactics through administrative hearings before the Department of Labor and federal court appeals when necessary.
Our Houma longshore lawyers see the same patterns in case after case:
Our Houma office serves injured clients throughout south Louisiana:
Maritime workers at covered locations (shipyards, terminals, docks) are typically covered by the Longshore Act, which provides higher benefits than Louisiana workers’ comp. Our Houma longshore attorneys evaluate your eligibility.
Generally no — the LHWCA is exclusive remedy against your direct employer. But you can sue third parties (vessel owners, other contractors, manufacturers) whose negligence contributed to the injury.
Call us immediately. Many cut-offs are improper, and the Department of Labor process to challenge a denial has strict timelines. Don’t try to fight the insurer alone.
Depends on the nature of your disability. Temporary total benefits run until you reach maximum medical improvement. Permanent partial and permanent total benefits can extend for life in serious cases.
If a vessel’s negligence contributed, you have a Section 905(b) third-party claim against the vessel owner for full damages on top of LHWCA benefits.
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 longshore lawyer, or visit us at 306 Grinage Street in downtown Houma.
