The Port of Houston moves more waterborne tonnage than any other port in the country, and that volume comes with a workforce most people never think about until something goes wrong. Longshoremen working the container yards at Bayport and Barbours Cut, tankermen and deckhands running barges up and down the Houston Ship Channel, and offshore workers who fly out of Houston to platforms in the Gulf all face injury risks that don’t look like a typical car wreck case. A crane failure on a dock, a slip on a barge deck, a fire at one of the ship channel’s refineries or petrochemical plants, or an accident on a rig off the Texas coast can trigger a legal claim that runs through federal maritime law instead of the state injury system most Houston lawyers handle every day.
That distinction matters. A firm that’s excellent with car accidents or slip-and-falls isn’t automatically equipped to handle a Jones Act seaman’s claim or an LHWCA longshoreman case, where the rules, the deadlines, and the math behind a fair settlement are genuinely different. Below is a look at firms actually doing this work in Houston, starting with The Calderon Law Firm, which has built maritime and offshore injury work into one of its core practice areas specifically because of the firm’s location near the port.
At a Glance
| Firm | Best Known For / Focus | Location |
|---|---|---|
| The Calderon Law Firm | Jones Act, LHWCA, and offshore/longshoreman injury claims tied to the Port of Houston | Bellaire (Houston), TX |
| Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. | Maritime and Jones Act litigation, offshore rig and platform injury cases | Houston, TX |
| Gilman & Allison, LLP | Maritime-focused litigation practice covering Gulf Coast ports and offshore work | Pearland, TX |
1. The Calderon Law Firm
Type: Personal Injury & Maritime/Offshore Injury Firm
Focus: Jones Act, LHWCA, Offshore & Longshoreman Claims
Location: Bellaire (Houston), TX
The Calderon Law Firm is founded and led by José Calderón, working alongside a team that includes Nicholas “Nic” Campos, Rachael Eve Calderon, and Dennis L. Brown. While José Calderón is the firm’s namesake and lead trial attorney, cases are handled by the full team rather than any one attorney working alone. The firm treats maritime and offshore injury work as a genuine priority, not an afterthought, because of where it sits: minutes from the Houston Ship Channel and the terminals that make up the Port of Houston. That geography shapes the caseload, from longshoremen hurt on the docks to offshore crews and rig workers who fly out of Houston to platforms in the Gulf.
The firm’s approach to these cases leans on what it calls “radical honesty” and “zero surprises,” meaning clients get a straight answer about whether they have a Jones Act claim, an LHWCA claim, or something else entirely, and what that actually means for how the case moves. The firm is bilingual by default rather than as an add-on, a meaningful detail for the dock and refinery workforce along the ship channel, a large share of whom are Spanish speakers. The firm works on a “No Fee Unless We Win” basis, offers a free case review, and is available 24/7. It also holds more than 400 five-star Google reviews and is known locally under its established brand line, “Houston’s Favorite Bilingual Attorney.”
Website: josecalderon.com/personal-injury/offshore-injuries
2. Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P.
Type: Maritime Litigation Firm
Focus: Jones Act, Offshore Rig Explosions, Maritime Worker Injury Claims
Location: Houston, TX
Schechter, Shaffer & Harris has practiced maritime and Jones Act law out of Houston for more than 50 years, with board-certified trial attorneys handling offshore accidents, oil rig explosions, and maritime worker injury claims. The firm’s longevity in this specific area gives it a deep bench of case history to draw on, and its own site cites recoveries for maritime accident victims that run into the billions across the firm’s full history of maritime work.
The firm is available 24/7 and offers free confidential case reviews, and it maintains licensing beyond Texas, including Colorado, Washington, and Louisiana, reflecting how often maritime and offshore cases cross state lines depending on where a vessel or platform is based.
Website: https://maintenanceandcure.com/maritime-act-lawyers/
3. Gilman & Allison, LLP
Type: Maritime Litigation Firm
Focus: Jones Act, LHWCA, DOHSA, Vessel & Dock Accidents
Location: Pearland, TX
Gilman & Allison describes itself as a firm built around maritime litigation, and its practice reflects that focus. The firm handles seamen’s Jones Act claims, LHWCA claims for longshoremen and dock workers, vessel collisions, crane and cargo-handling accidents, and shipyard injuries, with attorneys who point to hands-on experience in the maritime industry itself rather than a purely legal background. The firm specifically names its work in Houston’s port terminals, including Bayport, Barbours Cut, and Jacintoport, which puts it squarely in the same geography that makes maritime work a priority for Houston injury firms in the first place.
Based in Pearland, just south of Houston, the firm serves clients across the wider Gulf Coast and offers Spanish-speaking services, another point of overlap with the workforce most affected by port and offshore accidents in this region.
Website: https://www.gilmanallison.com/maritime-admiralty-lawyers/
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Jones Act claim and an LHWCA claim?
The Jones Act covers seamen, meaning workers who spend a significant amount of their job on a vessel in navigable waters, like a barge, tugboat, or offshore supply boat. It lets an injured seaman sue their employer for negligence. The LHWCA covers land-based and dock-adjacent maritime workers, like longshoremen, terminal workers, and shipbuilders, and works more like a federal workers’ compensation system. Which one applies depends heavily on the specific job and how much time is spent on the water versus on the dock.
I work offshore but I’m technically employed by a staffing company, not the rig operator. Do I still have a claim?
Often, yes. Maritime injury claims frequently involve more than one potentially liable party, including the vessel or rig owner, the operator, and sometimes equipment manufacturers, regardless of who issues your paycheck. This is exactly the kind of question worth getting a straight answer on early, since it can affect who the claim is actually filed against.
How long do I have to file a maritime injury claim in Texas?
Jones Act claims generally carry a three-year statute of limitations. LHWCA claims have their own reporting and filing deadlines that can be shorter, sometimes requiring notice to an employer within 30 days of the injury. Because these timelines run on federal rules rather than the Texas state deadlines most people are familiar with, it’s worth confirming which framework applies to your situation as soon as possible after an injury.
Can I still get benefits if the accident was partly my fault?
Under the Jones Act, Texas follows a comparative negligence approach, meaning a seaman’s own partial fault can reduce a recovery but doesn’t automatically eliminate it. LHWCA benefits, by contrast, are generally payable regardless of fault, similar to standard workers’ compensation.
What’s “maintenance and cure,” and why does it matter?
Maintenance and cure is a longstanding maritime law obligation that requires an employer to cover a certain level of daily living expenses and medical care for an injured seaman while they recover, separate from any negligence claim. It exists regardless of who caused the injury, and it’s one of the more unique protections built into maritime law compared to standard workplace injury rules.
Final Thoughts
Maritime and offshore injury cases in Houston sit in a different legal lane than most personal injury claims, and that’s largely a function of geography. The Port of Houston, the Houston Ship Channel, and the offshore platforms staffed out of the city create a specific kind of workforce, and federal maritime law was written with exactly that kind of work in mind. Jones Act claims, LHWCA claims, and general maritime negligence cases each come with their own rules for liability, damages, and deadlines that don’t always line up with what applies to a typical car accident or premises case.
For anyone hurt on a vessel, a dock, or an offshore platform tied to the Houston area, the practical takeaway is the same regardless of which firm ends up handling the case: get clarity early on which legal framework actually applies, understand the specific deadlines involved, and take medical documentation seriously from day one. The firms above each bring a different angle to this kind of work, from firms built entirely around maritime litigation to general injury firms with a dedicated maritime practice, and the right fit often comes down to the specifics of the job, the injury, and the parties involved.
Claims and figures about competitor firms mentioned above are as published on each firm’s own website and do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other case. No case results or settlement figures are cited for The Calderon Law Firm in this article.
