Suffered a paralysis injury in a maritime accident? Contact the maritime paralysis injury lawyers at The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor.
A paralysis injury in a maritime environment can alter every aspect of your life. From loss of mobility and inability to work to chronic pain, extensive medical care, and major lifestyle adjustments, the effects often require long-term rehabilitation and ongoing support. While you’re trying to recover, insurance companies may downplay the severity of your condition, question your treatment needs, or push quick settlements that fail to account for your future care.
Maritime paralysis cases involve complex federal laws and require detailed medical evidence to prove the full impact of your injury. Vessel operators, shipping companies, and their insurers have teams of defense lawyers ready to challenge your claim. Without experienced representation, you risk accepting far less than your case is actually worth.
At The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor, our maritime injury attorneys understand the complex nature of paralysis cases and the evidence required to prove the full impact of these life-altering injuries. We work closely with neurologists, rehabilitation specialists, and maritime experts to document the long-term effects of your condition and support a strong claim for compensation. With more than 50 years of experience serving injured maritime workers, we are prepared to challenge aggressive insurers and fight for the recovery you deserve.
Get your free consultation and discover how our maritime paralysis injury lawyer can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Why You Need a Maritime Paralysis Injury Lawyer
Paralysis caused by a maritime accident is one of the most financially devastating injuries a worker can face. Hospital bills, long-term care, and lost wages can pile up fast, and the companies responsible rarely offer what your case is actually worth without a fight.
Maritime paralysis claims fall under federal law, not state personal injury rules. That distinction matters because the wrong legal strategy can cost you benefits you are entitled to.
- Federal laws override state rules: The Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) govern your claim, each with its own rules and deadlines.
- Multiple parties may share fault: Employers, vessel owners, contractors, and equipment manufacturers can each carry separate legal responsibility for your injury.
- Deadlines are strict: Missing a 30-day notice requirement or a one-year filing window can end a valid claim permanently.
- Insurers protect their bottom line: Without legal pressure, settlement offers rarely account for a lifetime of medical care, home modifications, and lost earning capacity.
The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor serves injured maritime workers from our Long Beach office, located near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. We handle the legal fight so you can focus on your medical care and your family.
What Is a Maritime Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury occurs when trauma damages the bundle of nerves that carries signals between your brain and your body. When those signals are disrupted, the result is often a loss of movement, sensation, or both below the site of the injury.
The type of paralysis you experience depends on where the injury occurred on your spine and how severe the damage is.
- Paraplegia: Loss of movement and sensation in the legs and lower body.
- Quadriplegia (tetraplegia): Loss of function in all four limbs and often the torso.
- Incomplete SCI: Some function remains below the injury site, though it may be limited.
- Complete SCI: No motor or sensory function exists below the injury site.
Each of these conditions carries a different long-term cost and a different legal strategy. We work with spinal cord specialists and life care planners to calculate exactly what your injury will cost over your lifetime, not just what you owe today.
What Causes Paralysis in Maritime Work?
Most maritime paralysis injuries happen because someone failed to maintain a safe working environment. Vessel operators, employers, and contractors have a legal duty to protect the people working on and around their ships.
Common causes of paralysis in maritime settings include falls from ladders, gangways, and rigging, snap-back force from parted mooring lines, crush injuries from cranes and shifting cargo, slips on oily or wet decks, and explosions or collisions on offshore platforms and barges.
These accidents are not random. They are the result of skipped maintenance, ignored safety protocols, and inadequate crew training. We investigate the specific conditions that caused your injury and build a case that holds the right parties accountable.
What we see consistently in maritime spinal cord injury cases filed in California federal courts is that the dangerous condition that caused the injury was documented in maintenance logs weeks or months before the accident.
A deck plate that had been flagged as a fall risk, a gangway railing reported as loose, or a mooring area identified by the crew as having inadequate lighting often appears in the vessel’s own records well before the incident.
We request every maintenance request, safety inspection report, and crew log in our first round of preservation demands, because the vessel’s own documentation frequently tells the most compelling story about why the accident happened.
Who Is Covered Under Maritime Law After a Paralysis Injury?
The law that applies to your claim depends on your job and where you were working when the injury happened.
| Worker Type | Work Location | Likely Coverage |
| Seaman or crew member | Vessel in navigation | Jones Act, unseaworthiness, maintenance and cure |
| Longshore or shipyard worker | Docks, terminals, repair yards | LHWCA |
| Offshore platform worker | Fixed platform on Outer Continental Shelf | LHWCA via OCSLA |
| Non-crew worker injured by a vessel | On or around a vessel | Section 905(b) vessel negligence |
| Surviving family member | Death beyond 3 nautical miles offshore | Death on the High Seas Act |
If you are not sure which category applies to you, that is exactly the kind of question a California maritime lawyer can answer in a free case evaluation.
What Laws Apply to Your Maritime Paralysis Case?
Federal maritime law is a specialized area that most general practice attorneys do not handle. These are the statutes most likely to apply to your case.
The Jones Act gives injured seamen the right to sue their employer directly for negligence. A seaman is generally someone who spends at least 30 percent of their working time on a vessel in navigation.
The LHWCA provides no-fault medical and wage benefits for longshore workers, shipyard employees, and offshore platform workers. For a paralysis injury, this includes permanent disability benefits and lifetime medical coverage related to your condition.
General Maritime Law (Unseaworthiness) holds vessel owners strictly liable when a ship or its equipment is not reasonably fit for its intended purpose. You do not need to prove the owner knew about the defect.
Section 905(b) allows LHWCA-covered workers to file a separate negligence lawsuit against a vessel owner on top of their workers’ compensation benefits.
OCSLA extends LHWCA protections to workers on fixed platforms located on the Outer Continental Shelf, such as offshore oil rigs.
What Should You Do After a Maritime Spinal Cord Injury?
The steps you take immediately after your injury have a direct impact on your medical outcome and your legal case.
Step 1: Get Medical Care and Report the Injury
Seek emergency medical treatment for any spinal cord injury without delay. Seamen should report the injury to the ship’s captain immediately. Workers covered by the LHWCA must provide written notice to their employer within 30 days of the accident.
Step 2: Preserve Evidence and Identify Witnesses
Write down the vessel name, the equipment involved, and the conditions at the time of the accident. Identify anyone who witnessed what happened and note their contact information if possible.
We send formal legal preservation letters to secure vessel logs, maintenance records, and security footage before they are destroyed.
Step 3: Do Not Give Recorded Statements or Sign Forms
The company’s insurance adjuster may contact you quickly and ask for a recorded statement. Decline. Do not sign any medical releases or accept any early settlement offers before speaking with an attorney.
Early statements and premature agreements are frequently used to limit what you can recover later.
Step 4: Call a Maritime Paralysis Injury Lawyer
Early legal representation protects your benefits, locks in critical evidence, and prevents your employer from cutting off your medical treatment or wages. We step in immediately so you are not navigating this alone.
Who May Be Liable for Your Maritime Paralysis Injury?
Employer Negligence and Maintenance and Cure
Seamen are entitled to maintenance and cure benefits from their employer regardless of who caused the accident. Maintenance covers daily living costs while you cannot work, and cure covers all necessary medical treatment until you reach maximum medical improvement.
If employer negligence caused your injury, you may also pursue a full Jones Act negligence claim for lost wages, pain and suffering, and future care.
Vessel Owners and Section 905(b) Claims
If a vessel’s crew or condition contributed to your injury, you may have a claim against the vessel owner under Section 905(b). This applies in situations such as a ship’s crew dropping cargo onto a dockworker or a vessel failing to warn workers about a known deck hazard.
Contractors and Equipment Manufacturers
Drilling contractors, stevedoring companies, and equipment manufacturers can all be held liable when their negligence or defective products cause a paralysis injury. These third-party claims often add substantial compensation on top of your LHWCA benefits.
What Compensation Can You Recover?
Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), you may obtain lifetime medical care for your injury, two-thirds of your average weekly wage during your disability, permanent disability benefits, and vocational rehabilitation services.
Under the Jones Act and third-party claims, you may recover full past and future wage loss, all medical and attendant care costs, home and vehicle modifications, and damages for pain and loss of enjoyment of life. Surviving family members may pursue maritime wrongful death compensation under the Death on the High Seas Act.
A paralysis claim must account for decades of future expenses, not just your current bills. We retain economists and life care planners to document every cost so nothing is left off the table.
In our experience handling paralysis claims in federal courts near the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, the life care plan is consistently the most impactful document in the entire case.
Insurance adjusters and defense teams routinely challenge the projected costs of long-term care, home modifications, and assistive technology, arguing the estimates are inflated or speculative.
We work with life care planners whose projections are grounded in published cost data for the Southern California market and supported by treating physician testimony. When the defense challenges those figures, we present the cost data underlying every line item, which makes the challenge very difficult to sustain.
Why Choose the Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor?
The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor focuses exclusively on maritime injury law. We do not handle general personal injury cases. Every attorney, every investigation, and every expert we retain is selected with maritime law in mind.
- Charles D. Naylor has significant maritime litigation experience handling vessel, dock, and offshore injury cases in state and federal courts.
- Nationally recognized: Our firm holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest available, and Charles D. Naylor has been repeatedly named a Southern California Super Lawyer.
- Academic leadership: Charles D. Naylor serves as an adjunct professor of Admiralty and Maritime Law at Chapman University School of Law.
- Proven results: We have secured a $55.2 million jury award, a $24 million settlement, and a $3.2 million settlement for longshore workers with catastrophic injuries.
- No fee unless we win: We advance all case costs so you owe nothing out of pocket unless we recover compensation for you.
“Charles Naylor and his staff are quick, brilliant and very persuasive no matter your side. He also has the unusual ability to keep you calm in all circumstances – which is very important. In the end he delivers – and more than you might expect. The best in maritime law that I’ve heard of and used! I owe him a thank you every month!” – JMK, Cruise Injury Client
“This was my first major injury and also first dealings with an attorney in this sort of case. The firm was exceptionally professional, well informed and knowledgeable of injury cases. They built my trust from the first interview and proved to be the perfect firm for me to use. My attorney, Peter Forgie, is wonderful and kind, and an easy person to work with.
My questions were answered and my concerns were treated as important. I was treated with respect. Thanks to all of you for your time and effort on my part. I really appreciate it!” – Darlene, Cruise Injury Client
Frequently Asked Questions About Maritime Paralysis Claims
Does a Jones Act Seaman Qualify for Maintenance and Cure if the Employer Claims the Injury Was the Seaman’s Own Fault?
Yes. Maintenance and cure is owed to injured seamen regardless of fault. Your employer cannot deny these benefits simply by arguing that you caused the accident.
Can a Longshore Worker Receive LHWCA Benefits and Still Sue a Vessel Owner Under Section 905(b)?
Yes. These are separate claims. You can receive no-fault LHWCA benefits from your employer and simultaneously pursue a negligence lawsuit against a vessel owner whose actions contributed to your injury.
What Happens if the Vessel Owner Claims the Ship Was Seaworthy at the Time of the Accident?
Seaworthiness is an objective standard, not the owner’s opinion. We work with marine safety experts to document the actual condition of the vessel and its equipment at the time of your injury.
How Long Does a Maritime Paralysis Claim Take to Resolve?
Every case is different. Straightforward claims may resolve in months, while complex cases involving multiple liable parties or disputed liability may take longer. We keep you informed at every stage so you always know where your case stands.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire the Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor?
We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay no attorney fees unless we win your case, and we advance all costs related to your investigation and litigation.
Talk to a Maritime Paralysis Injury Lawyer Today
The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor is located at 111 W. Ocean Blvd, Suite 400 in Long Beach, California. We offer a free consultation, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Call (310) 514-1200 or contact us online to schedule your free case evaluation today.
