Suffer nerve damage in a maritime accident? Contact a maritime nerve damage lawyer to seek justice and compensation today.
Nerve damage from a maritime accident can affect nearly every part of your life. Crush injuries, repetitive strain, and traumatic impacts aboard vessels or on the docks can lead to numbness, chronic pain, loss of grip strength, and reduced mobility that make it difficult or impossible to return to physical maritime work. While you focus on treatment and recovery, insurance adjusters may question the severity of your symptoms or push a fast settlement that ignores the long-term impact on your ability to earn a living.
At the Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor, our maritime injury attorneys understand how nerve damage can threaten your career and your family’s financial stability. We work with neurologists, orthopedic specialists, and vocational experts to document the full extent of your injury and build a claim that reflects your true losses, including future medical care and lost earning capacity. With more than 100 years of combined experience representing injured maritime workers under the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and other maritime statutes, we know how to hold negligent vessel operators, employers, and manufacturers accountable.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and discover how our maritime nerve damage attorneys can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Maritime Nerve Damage Lawyer You Can Call Today
Nerve damage is one of the most underestimated injuries in maritime work, invisible to the eye but capable of ending a career overnight. If you were hurt on a vessel, dock, offshore platform, or cruise ship, the employer or cruise line already has lawyers working to limit what they owe you.
The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor represents injured maritime workers and cruise passengers from offices at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. We have achieved significant verdicts and settlements and a long record of meaningful recoveries in admiralty and maritime law.
Call our 24/7 hotline at (310) 514-1200 for a free case review, you pay nothing unless we win.
Do You Have a Nerve Damage Claim under Maritime Law?
If your injury resulted from an employer’s negligence, an unseaworthy vessel, or a cruise line’s failure to keep you safe, you likely have a legal claim. Which law applies depends on your role and where you were hurt.
- The Jones Act gives injured seamen the right to sue their employer for negligence that caused or contributed to their injury.
- The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides wage replacement and medical benefits for longshoremen, shipyard workers, and harbor workers hurt on the job.
- General Maritime Law governs cruise ship passengers and some offshore workers whose claims fall outside the Jones Act.
Applying the wrong framework, or missing a deadline tied to the wrong law, can permanently end your case before it starts.
What Is Nerve Damage?
Nerve damage, or neuropathy, is an injury to the network of pathways that carries signals between your brain, spinal cord, and the rest of your body. When nerves are compressed, stretched, or severed, those signals break down, often causing chronic pain, muscle weakness, and permanent disability.
The type of nerve injury you suffered directly affects your prognosis and the potential value of your claim.
| Injury Type | What Happens | Recovery Outlook |
| Neuropraxia | Nerve compressed or stretched but not torn | May resolve with treatment |
| Axonotmesis | Inner nerve fibers damaged; outer sheath intact | Months to years; may require surgery |
| Neurotmesis | Nerve completely severed | Often permanent; highest case value |
Symptoms of Nerve Damage to Watch For
Symptoms often develop gradually after an injury, and many maritime workers mistake early warning signs for ordinary soreness, which is exactly what employers and insurers count on when they dispute claims.
Watch for:
- Numbness, tingling, or a “pins and needles” sensation in your hands, arms, feet, or legs
- Burning, stabbing, or radiating pain
- Muscle weakness or loss of grip strength
- Difficulty walking or maintaining balance
- Heightened sensitivity to light touch
- Loss of bladder or bowel control, which can indicate damage to spinal nerves
Document every symptom in writing and seek an independent neurological evaluation before signing anything for your employer or their insurer.
Maritime Accidents That Cause Nerve Damage
General personal injury firms handle car crashes and slip-and-falls. We handle what happens when industrial equipment fails at sea.
Shipboard and Deck Operations
A mooring line under extreme tension can snap and recoil with enough force to fracture spines and sever limbs. Falling cargo, oil-slicked decks, and contact with poorly maintained gear are equally dangerous, and frequently the direct result of an unseaworthy vessel.
Longshore and Terminal Work
Longshoremen face crush injuries from container handling, forklift accidents, and progressive nerve conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome from years of operating heavy machinery. Employers routinely attribute these injuries to “normal wear and tear” to avoid liability under the LHWCA.
Shipyard and Dry-Dock Incidents
Falls from scaffolding, electrical shocks from faulty wiring, and confined-space crush injuries can cause catastrophic damage to peripheral nerves and the spinal cord, ending skilled trades careers permanently with no warning.
Offshore and Commercial Fishing
Winch and crane failures, sudden deck shifts in heavy weather, and falling equipment are common causes of severe nerve damage on offshore rigs and fishing vessels, covered under the Jones Act or the Defense Base Act (DBA) for offshore contractors.
Cruise Ship and Shore Excursion Accidents
Passengers are most often hurt in falls on pool decks or tender boats and in vehicle crashes during cruise-sponsored shore excursions. We also handle claims where a ship’s doctor caused or worsened a nerve injury through negligent medical treatment.
How We Build Your Nerve Damage Case
Nerve injuries are not visible, making them among the most aggressively disputed claims in maritime litigation. Insurers will argue your condition is exaggerated or unrelated to the incident, our job is to prove otherwise.
- Independent medical testing: We connect you with a qualified neurologist for electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS), objective evidence the company doctor’s report cannot override.
- Rapid evidence preservation: Vessel logs, incident reports, and cruise ship CCTV footage can disappear quickly. We act immediately to secure what exists before it is deleted or overwritten.
- Expert witnesses: Life-care planners and vocational rehabilitation specialists calculate the full lifetime cost of your injury, including future care and any earning capacity you may never recover.
- Correct venue and jurisdiction: We file in the right court, whether federal admiralty court or the specific district your cruise passage contract legally requires.
What Compensation Can You Recover for Nerve Damage?
The value of your claim depends on the severity of your injury, your wage loss, and which maritime law governs your case. We pursue every category of recovery available to you.
- Medical expenses: All current and future costs for surgery, rehabilitation, specialist care, and ongoing treatment
- Lost wages and earning capacity: Income already lost, plus future earnings if you cannot return to your prior occupation
- Pain and suffering: Physical pain, emotional distress, and permanent loss of function or enjoyment of life
- Maintenance and cure: Injured seamen are legally owed a daily living allowance (maintenance) and full medical coverage (cure) until reaching maximum medical improvement, with punitive damages available if the employer wrongfully denies it
- Punitive damages: Available when an employer willfully refuses to honor their maintenance and cure obligations
Deadlines You Cannot Afford to Miss
Maritime law has strict filing windows, and missing one typically means losing your right to compensation permanently.
- Jones Act: Three years from the date of injury to file suit.
- LHWCA: Written notice to your employer within 30 days, formal claim filed within one year.
- Cruise passengers: Most passage contracts require written notice within six months and the filing of a lawsuit within one year.
Your cruise ticket is also a legal contract that dictates which federal court you must sue in, often Miami, Seattle, or Los Angeles, regardless of where you live. We litigate in all of these venues.
What to Do After a Maritime Nerve Injury
What you do in the hours after an injury can determine the strength of your entire claim.
- Report in writing. Notify your supervisor or ship’s officer immediately and insist on a written incident report. Get your own copy.
- Choose your own doctor. Under the Jones Act, seamen have the right to their own treating physician, not just the one the company sends you to.
- Decline recorded statements. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that minimize your injury. Do not speak with them before consulting a maritime attorney.
- Preserve evidence. Photograph the scene, collect witness names, and hold onto every document related to your injury and employment.
- Call us now. Deadlines begin running from the day of the incident, not the day you realize how serious it is.
Why Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor?
Our office is located on Ocean Blvd, between the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, and we focus our practice on admiralty and maritime law.
Charles D. Naylor has received recognition from Best Lawyers in the field of Admiralty & Maritime Law. Our attorneys and paralegals have extensive experience in maritime law, and when you call, you’ll speak with a team that has tried similar cases in the courts that handle admiralty and maritime matters.
Pay Nothing Unless We Win
We handle every maritime nerve damage case on a strict contingency-fee basis, if we do not win, you owe us nothing.
Our 24/7 hotlines are staffed specifically for seamen, longshoremen, shipyard workers, and cruise passengers. Call (310) 514-1200 now for your free case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Average Settlement for a Maritime Nerve Damage Claim?
There is no single average, the value depends on the severity of your nerve injury, total wage loss, future medical costs, and which specific maritime law applies to your case.
Can a Cruise Passenger Sue a Cruise Line for Nerve Damage?
Yes, but you must comply with your passage contract’s notice deadlines and file suit in the federal court the cruise line designated, typically within one year of the incident.
Do Jones Act Seamen Have to Use the Company Doctor?
No, under the Jones Act, you have the legal right to your own treating physician, and you should exercise it, because the company’s doctor is paid by the company, not by you.
Can You Recover Compensation with a Preexisting Nerve Condition?
Yes, maritime law allows recovery for any aggravation or worsening of a preexisting condition caused by the incident, and the responsible party is liable for all additional harm they caused.
Why Is Nerve Damage Hard to Prove in Maritime Cases?
Because it is not visible, insurers routinely dispute its severity, which is why objective testing such as EMG, nerve conduction studies, and MRI is essential to establishing the physical reality of your injury from the start.
What Happens If You Miss the Filing Deadline?
Missing the applicable window, three years under the Jones Act, one year under the LHWCA, or a shorter period under a cruise passage contract, almost always means losing your right to any recovery.
