An LHWCA claim is a federal case, not a Texas one. It runs through the Department of Labor, on Department of Labor forms, under Department of Labor deadlines, and a Houston LHWCA lawyer who treats it like a state workers' compensation file will cost you benefits. The Calderon Law Firm handles Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act claims from the first notice through hearings before an administrative law judge.
Call (346) 999-5673.
We work alongside maritime injury lawyers who handle LHWCA claims in Houston across every stage of the federal process.
What Is the LHWCA, and Who Does It Cover?
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act is a federal benefits program for maritime workers who are not crew members of a vessel. It is administered by the Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation within the Department of Labor rather than by any Texas agency.
Coverage requires two things at once. The status test asks whether your work is maritime employment. The situs test asks whether the injury happened on navigable waters or in an adjoining area such as a pier, wharf, terminal, dry dock, or shipyard.
Workers who commonly satisfy both include ship repairers, shipbuilders, marine welders and fitters, riggers, crane and gantry operators, terminal equipment operators, harbor construction crews, and marine surveyors. Seamen aboard vessels may qualify for Jones Act remedies instead of LHWCA benefits, which is a materially different claim.
What Are the LHWCA Deadlines You Cannot Miss?
Two deadlines govern every claim, and they are shorter than most injured workers expect.
Written notice to the employer is due within 30 days of the injury, or within 30 days of learning that a condition is work-related. Form LS-201 is the standard vehicle. The formal claim for compensation, Form LS-203, must reach the nearest Department of Labor district office within one year of the injury or the last payment of compensation.
Occupational disease claims get more time, generally two years from when the worker knew or should have known the condition was connected to the employment. Hearing loss and chemical exposure claims usually fall here.
Late notice is not always fatal. Employers who had actual knowledge of the injury, or who suffered no prejudice from the delay, may be unable to use it as a defense. That argument has to be made properly, which is why late notice is a reason to call rather than a reason to give up.
How Are LHWCA Benefits Calculated?
Disability benefits are based on your average weekly wage at the time of injury, and total disability pays two-thirds of that figure subject to national maximum and minimum rates that the Department of Labor adjusts each October.
Average weekly wage is where most Houston disputes actually happen. The calculation looks at earnings in the 52 weeks before the injury, divided by the weeks actually worked, and it should include overtime, shift differentials, and premium pay.
Carriers routinely undercount it. Seasonal swings in vessel traffic, work performed for more than one employer or terminal during the lookback year, and periods of layoff or illness all skew the average downward if they are not handled correctly. A worker whose wage is understated by $200 a week loses that difference every week the disability lasts.
| Benefit category | What it pays |
| Temporary total disability | Two-thirds of average weekly wage while unable to work at all |
| Temporary partial disability | Two-thirds of the difference between pre-injury and post-injury earnings |
| Permanent partial disability | Scheduled award by body part, or wage-loss based for unscheduled injuries |
| Permanent total disability | Two-thirds of average weekly wage, adjusted annually |
| Medical benefits | Full cost of authorized treatment related to the injury |
| Survivors' benefits | One-half of wages to a spouse alone, two-thirds with eligible children |
Notably, the LHWCA pays nothing for pain, mental anguish, or full lost earning capacity. That gap is what makes a separate third-party lawsuit so significant in serious cases.
Ask us what your average weekly wage should be: (346) 999-5673.
What Happens After You File an LHWCA Claim?
The federal process moves through defined stages, and knowing which stage you are in tells you what leverage you have.
- Filing and response. The employer's carrier accepts the claim, disputes causation, contests disability status, or challenges the average weekly wage.
- Informal conference. A Department of Labor claims examiner convenes the parties and issues a recommendation. This is non-binding, and it is where many claims resolve.
- Referral to the Office of Administrative Law Judges. A party that rejects the recommendation may request a formal hearing, which functions like a trial before an ALJ with testimony and exhibits.
- Benefits Review Board. The ALJ's decision may be appealed to this administrative body.
- Federal court of appeals. Final review goes to the circuit court, which for Texas claims is the Fifth Circuit.
Procedural mistakes early in this sequence are difficult to fix later. Evidence not developed before the ALJ generally cannot be added on appeal.
When Can You Sue on Top of Your LHWCA Benefits?
Section 905(b) of the Act permits a covered worker to sue a vessel owner in tort when the vessel's negligence contributed to the injury. That lawsuit exists alongside the benefits claim rather than replacing it.
Section 933 covers the broader category. It preserves your right to pursue any third party whose negligence caused the injury, including equipment manufacturers, terminal operators, stevedoring companies other than your employer, and contractors working the same site.
These claims may recover pain, mental anguish, and full wage loss, which benefits do not. The tradeoff is that the employer's carrier typically holds a lien against the third-party recovery, and how that lien is negotiated determines what you actually keep.
You should also understand the difference between the LHWCA and the Jones Act before assuming which framework applies to you.
Why Houston Maritime Workers Bring Us Federal Claims
Federal administrative practice rewards documentation and punishes improvisation, and that is how we build these files.
Our founder, Jose Calderon, is a Houston native and fluent Spanish speaker who earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston on a Dean's Merit Scholarship.
He has been recognized on the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list every year since 2020, named to The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 in his second year of practice, and included on the Best Lawyers Ones to Watch list for 2027.
On LHWCA files specifically:
- We rebuild the average weekly wage from payroll records rather than accepting the carrier's figure
- We calendar the 30-day and one-year deadlines from first notice, in writing, so nothing turns on memory
- We evaluate third-party and 905(b) exposure at the same time as the benefits claim, not after it settles
- We handle the entire matter in English or Spanish, including correspondence with the district office
Past results do not predict the outcome of any future case.
How Does OCSLA Extend LHWCA Coverage?
A third statute resolves many Gulf of Mexico cases. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act extends LHWCA benefits to workers injured on fixed platforms and installations on the Outer Continental Shelf.
That is why a platform worker who plainly is not a seaman still has a federal benefits claim rather than only a Texas workers' compensation claim. OCSLA also borrows the law of the adjacent state, Texas for most of the Gulf, to fill gaps for claims that are not maritime in nature.
The practical effect is a third possible answer when someone asks which law covers them. A worker may be a Jones Act seaman, a direct LHWCA employee, or an OCSLA beneficiary receiving LHWCA benefits, and each route carries different third-party options.
Workers who move between a platform and the vessels servicing it sit exactly on these lines, which is another reason the daily reports and assignment records matter so much.
What Do Carriers Dispute Most Often?
Three issues account for the majority of contested LHWCA claims in Houston, and each is answerable with evidence built for that purpose.
The first is causation, particularly for back injuries and any condition with delayed onset. Carriers argue the condition existed before the employment or arose from something outside work. Prior functional records, not just prior diagnoses, are what answer this.
The second is disability status. A carrier may concede the injury but dispute whether you are totally or partially disabled, or argue you reached maximum medical improvement earlier than your physician says.
The third is vocational. Employers frequently present a labor market survey claiming suitable alternative employment exists at wages close to your prior earnings. Those surveys often list jobs that are not actually available to someone with your restrictions, work history, or language ability, and they can be rebutted with a competing vocational assessment.
FAQ for Houston LHWCA Lawyers
Can my employer choose my doctor under the LHWCA?
You generally have the right to select your initial treating physician, subject to Department of Labor authorization, and the employer is responsible for the cost of authorized treatment. Changing physicians afterward requires approval. Employers sometimes direct workers to a company clinic and describe it as required, which is worth verifying before your care and your record get built around it.
What happens if my LHWCA claim is denied?
Denial is not the end of the process. A denied or disputed claim proceeds to an informal conference with a claims examiner, and from there to a formal hearing before an administrative law judge where evidence and testimony are presented. Most denials rest on causation or on disability status, both of which are answerable with medical evidence developed for that purpose rather than the records that already exist.
Do I have to pay back benefits if I win a third-party lawsuit?
Usually the carrier asserts a lien against the recovery for what it paid in medical and disability benefits. The amount is often negotiable, and the timing of any settlement affects whether the lien can be reduced. Settling a third-party claim without addressing the lien first is one of the more expensive mistakes in this area.
Are undocumented workers covered by the LHWCA?
Coverage under the Act turns on the nature of the employment rather than immigration status, and courts have recognized claims by workers without documentation. Our bilingual team handles these matters regularly and does not need proof of status to evaluate what happened to you.
How long do LHWCA claims take to resolve?
Uncontested claims with clear medical support may produce benefits within weeks. Contested claims that reach an administrative law judge commonly run one to two years, and appeals extend that further. The pace is largely driven by whether the carrier disputes causation, disability, or the wage calculation, which is why those three points get addressed head-on at the start.
What Should You Bring to a First Meeting?
Nothing is required, and we can start with a phone call. That said, a few documents move a claim faster.
Useful items include any LS-201 or LS-203 already filed, letters from the employer's insurance carrier, your pay records for the 52 weeks before the injury, the incident report you were asked to sign, and the names of coworkers who witnessed what happened. Copies of your own medical records help as well, particularly if a company physician and an outside physician disagree.
If you have none of that, bring the claim number and we will request the rest.
Federal Deadlines Do Not Send Reminders
Thirty days for notice. One year for the claim. Both run from the injury, not from the day the pain became impossible to work through, and neither one pauses while a carrier tells you the paperwork is being handled internally.
If you were hurt on a dock, in a yard, or on a repair job along the water and nobody has explained which federal form was filed on your behalf, that is worth one phone call. There is no charge for it and no fee unless we recover for you.
Call The Calderon Law Firm at (346) 999-5673 or reach a case manager online, in English or Spanish, at any hour.