Seaman Injuries, Jones Act Injuries, Crew Member Injuries. Answers to your questions by a California Seaman Injury Attorney.

Are you a Seaman with a Personal Injury Claim or the family of a Seaman with a Death Claim? A California Seaman Attorney provides answers to your questions...


Seaman Injuries, Jones Act Injuries, Crew Member Injuries

This website is designed to provide answers to your Injured Seaman questions - - by a California Jones Act Attorney

Seaman injuries and crew member injuries usually fall under the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. This website has articles which address Seaman’s powerful Rights and Remedies.

Seaman have more powerful rights and remedies of any workers in America. Unlike most workers, Injured Seaman can bring a civil lawsuit against their employer. If you work at Wal-Mart, for instance, if you were injured on the job, workers compensation would usually be your sole remedy against Wal-Mart. As you might realize, California workers compensation has some of the lowest and unfair worker injury benefits in the United States. Welcome to the Golden State.

Injured Seaman, on the other hand, can sue their employer if they are injured at work. The reason why Injured Seaman have these right and remedies goes back to old England. Unlike land based workers, Seaman can not quit and go home if they are faced with a dangerous hazard at work. They are at the mercy of their employer. Literally and figuratively. Because a Seaman doesn’t have the option of quitting if they are ordered to perform an unsafe work practice, the law affords Seaman the ability to sue their employer if they are injured at work.

You can be a “Seaman” and not qualify as a “Jones Act Seaman”

I hear lawyers say all the time, “In order to qualify as a ‘Seaman,’ the worker has to spend 30% of their work time on the vessel.” This is only partly true. In order to qualify as a “Jones Act Seaman,” you need to spend 30% or more of your time on a vessel or identifiable fleet of vessels. However, what these lawyers (mostly non maritime lawyers or uninformed maritime lawyers) fail to realize is that a worker can not spend 30% of their time aboard a vessel and still qualify as what is called a "Sieracki Seaman.”

Sieracki Seaman can still bring claims under General Maritime Law. That is they can bring an unseaworthiness claim and a General Maritime Law negligence claim. Along with a State workers compensation claim.

We usually recommend filing all Seaman lawsuits in State Court. Here is another reason to try and file in California State Court. California Courts expressly authorize such “Sieracki Seaman” claims.

In any event, if a lawyer tells you that you do not qualify as a Jones Act Seaman because you spent less than 30% of your time on a vessel, you need to investigate whether you qualify as a ‘Sieracki Seaman.” California workers compensation is extremely unfair. Do you and your family a huge favor - - investigate whether you are a “Sieracki Seaman.” Be sure and talk to a seasoned California Seaman attorney / California Seaman Lawyer.






Additional Jones Act information:

What is a Jones Act case?
The Jones Act

Who is a Jones Act Seaman? (Seaman Status)

What is Jones Act Maintenance and Cure?
What is Maintenance under the Jones Act?

What is negligence under the Jones Act?
What do you have to prove in a Jones Act negligence claim?

What is unseaworthiness?
How does the law define unseaworthiness?
How do I prove the vessel was unseaworthy?

If you are a seriously injured Jones Act Seaman, how are you going to support your family?
Some Jones Act “truths”





















The Turley Law Firm Attorneys accept cases in the following locations in California: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Long Beach, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Bakersfield, Riverside,  El Cajon, Vista, Stockton, Chula Vista, Fremont, Irvine, Modesto, Glendale, San Bernardino, Huntington Beach, Oxnard, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Oceanside, Rancho Cucamonga, Santa Clarita, Garden Grove, Ontario, Pomona, Santa Rosa, Salinas, Palmdale, Hayward, Pasadena, Torrance, Corona, Lancaster, Catalina Island, Bodega Bay, Bethel Island, Half Moon Bay, Eureka, Avalon,  Escondido, Alameda, Orange, Elk Grove, Sunnyvale, Fullerton, Thousand Oaks, El Monte, Simi Valley, Concord, Visalia, Vallejo, Ventura, Ventura Harbor, Marina del Ray, Morro Bay, Inglewood, Santa Clara, Pacific Ocean,  Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach , Port of San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Channel, San Clemente Island,  San Joaquin River, San Francisco Harbor, San Francisco Bay, Stockton, Port of Stockton, Port of Sacramento, Port San Luis, California Delta, Lake Tahoe, Colorado River, Port of San Diego, Sausalito, Santa Cruz, San Pedro,  San Diego Harbor, Stockton, Oceanside Harbor, Catalina Island, Dan Point, Newport Harbor, Ventura Harbor, Port Hueneme, Vallejo, Crescent City, Yuba City, Wilmington, and the Channel Islands, and the navigable waterways of the the United States and the navigable waters of California.

The Turley Law Firm handles all type of boat and ship accidents and we are boat accident attorneys, including Jones Act attorneys, unseaworthiness attorneys, boat negligence attorneys, maintenance and cure attorneys,  cruise ship attorneys, recreational boating attorneys, boat accident attorneys, ship accident attorney, boat collision attorney, ship collision attorney, barge accident attorney, barge attorney, derrick attonrey, floating work platform attorney,  PWC accident attorney, personal watercraft accident attorney, sailboat accident attorney, water ski accident attorney, sailing accident attorney,  tanker attorney, offshore attorney,  and river accident attorneys.  Jones Act Attorney,  Jones Act Lawyer, Boating Accident Attorney, Boating Accident Lawyer, LHWCA Lawyer, LHWCA Attorney, Longshore Act Attorney, Longshore Act Lawyer.





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The San Diego, California personal injury law firm of The Turley Law Firm serves clients across  Southern California area. We give you straight talk about your legal options. We have handled cases from San Diego to Imperial Beach to Oceanside to Escondido to El Cajon, everywhere in between, such as: Alpine, Camp Pendleton, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado,  Del Mar, Eastlake, Encinitas, La Mesa, La Costa, La Jolla, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Mission Bay, NAS San Diego, National City, Naval Station San Diego, North Island, North County, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, Port of San Diego, Poway, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, San Diego Harbor, Santee, Solana Beach, South Bay, Spring Valley, Vista.

We handle cases across California, including: Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, Imperial County, Los Angeles County, and Ventura County, Colorado River, Mexico, Cabo, Pacific Ocean and all the Oceans and waterways across California and the World.


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