Part One You may have heard that a Bill to amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 901) has been reintroduced by Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA). It was referred to the...

I think that the expression “independent contractor” is used too often in different contexts to mean different things. This results in confusion regarding the term. I would like to contribute to the...

What about divers? Are they covered by the Longshore Act or are they crewmembers under the Jones Act and general maritime law? As usual, many coverage questions produce conditional opinions, and...

You may have heard that the Longshore Act is going to the U.S. Supreme Court, by way of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1331 et.seq.). The OCSLA is an extension of the...

Preface: The following is an update on claims reported under the Defense Base Act as of 12/31/2010. The approximately 19,000 injuries reported outside of Iraq and Afghanistan are spread all over the...

How about a short review of some of the coverage issues that arise between the boundaries that separate the Longshore Act from other remedies available to the injured worker? Some of these issues...

This question comes up regularly. And, as usual, I don’t have a straight answer; just some thoughts on how to deal with the question. So, leaving a discussion of “situs” for another time, do truck...

Have you ever noticed that the conversations among lawyers who specialize in the Longshore Act frequently seem to consist of cryptic, single word references? The code word is usually a reference to...

Section 902(3) of the Longshore Act is the status coverage provision. It states, “The term ‘employee’ means any person engaged in maritime employment, including any longshoreman or other person...

Section 904(a) states, “Every employer shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable ….” Section 932(a) states, “Every employer shall secure the...

This post will highlight those sections of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act that deal with fraud and other improper conduct. It will also evaluate the statutory remedies available...

1927 – The Special Fund was established by section 944 (33 U.S.C. 944) when the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act was enacted in 1927. It was originally funded by Congressional...

You’ve probably seen references to so-called “Perini” coverage when the issues of situs and status under the Longshore Act are being discussed. I make frequent reference to it myself, usually...

The single most important ingredient to uncovering subrogation is an early incident investigation. I cannot emphasize that enough. I have previously touched on the significance of conducting an...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) administers the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and its extensions, the Defense Base Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and the...

Work done on and around bridges is the subject of recurring questions with regard to coverage under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. So at the risk of doing more harm than good,...

Insurance carriers and brokers are puzzling through the coverage dilemmas presented by the Deepwater Horizon cleanup efforts. Are the shore side cleanup workers covered by state workers’...

PART ONE OF TWO Workers’ compensation claims are covered simultaneously by the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and by state’s workers’ compensation law in so called...

If you go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s website (dol.gov), find your way under Agencies to Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and then to the Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’...

The Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. 1651) (DBA) is a workers’ compensation law that extends the benefits of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to employees outside of the continental...