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Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act and Its Extensions

A good way to view the Longshore area:  Federal law governing workers' compensation on the navigable waters of the U.S.  Our attorneys are experienced in jurisdictional analysis, investigation, discovery, claims evaluation, and alternative dispute resolution.  This, coupled with the firm's multiple locations in or near every major port city in Florida, allows our clients to rest assured their attorneys can and will provide prompt personal attention to any on-site discovery, interviews, depositions or conferences which need to take place.

Extensions of the Longshore Act include the Defense Base Act, which initially covered workers on military bases outside the U.S.  It now includes almost any contract with an agency of the U.S. government, for work outside the U.S., whether military in nature or not.

NAFIA (Non-Appropriated Funds Instrumentalities Act) provides workers' compensation coverage to civilian employees of non-appropriated fund instrumentalities.  The Act applies to civilian workers who provide services to the U.S. Armed Forces, such as Post Exchange services; commissaries; and other recreational activities.  These eligible workers are engaged in activities intended to increase the “comfort, pleasure, contentment, and mental and physical improvement of personnel of the Armed Forces.”

OCSLA deals with the outer continental shelf, an area generally defined jurisdictionally as beyond 9 miles from the gulf coasts of Florida and Texas, and beyond 3 miles of other states.  Benefits of the Longshore Act are extended to employees working on the Outer Continental Shelf In the exploration and the development of natural resources, but the injury cannot occur on a vessel.  Applicable areas include the subsoil and seabed of the OCS; any artificial island, installation, or other device either permanently or temporarily erected on the OCS seabed; or any artificial island, installation, or other device used to develop, transport, or produce resources.

Each of the above statutes require specialized knowledge, which our attorneys have developed to assist our clients.