The proof isn't a slogan. It's the case work.
A trial firm is measured by what it does when a case gets hard — when the defense attacks seaman status, invokes a foreign forum clause, or argues no U.S. court can hear the claim at all. These are real matters and what it took to win the fights inside them.
Verdict figures are gross jury findings before adjustment for comparative fault and interest; matters noted as confidential resolved on confidential terms and disclose no figure. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Gillies v. Valaris
A missing stair edge, a sixteen-year seaman, and the company's own safety checklist used against it. Tried entirely by Zoom.
Deaver v. Noble Drilling
When an employer's denial of maintenance and cure crosses into willful and wanton — and the finding holds up on appeal.
Seaman Status for a Vessel-Based Oilfield Worker
A vessel-based oilfield worker was crushed against a wellhead in Trinity Bay; the defense said he wasn’t a seaman. Time across two company workboats put him well past the 30% line.
Defeating the Chapter 95 Operator Defense
A two-hundred-pound piston fell on a worker’s legs on an OCS platform; the operator hid behind a statute written for landowners. It did not hold.
Defeating a Bermuda Forum Maneuver
A drillship mechanic’s employer tried to move his case to Bermuda by assigning his employment contract to itself two days before answering. Three Texas courts said no.
Keeping a Foreign Employer in a U.S. Court
A rope-access technician fell ninety feet on a Gulf platform; his foreign employer tried to escape U.S. courts entirely. Rule 4(k)(2) kept the case here.
A Choice-of-Law Fight Across Three Countries
A New Zealand chief mechanic hurt on a rig in Nigerian waters sued in the United States. The § 30105 choice-of-law fight decided whether he could recover.
The Broken Handrail
A reflagged container ship, a rail logged “in good order,” and the records that told another story.
The Unseaworthy Stairway
A towing-vessel stairway, a failing mooring line, and casualty reports that were never filed.
Defeating Comp Immunity
A barge operator tried to hide behind a workers’-comp immunity it had already waived.
The Language Barrier
A miscommunication 30 miles offshore — and the word the crew couldn’t read was “stop.”
The 550-Pound Lift
A 550-pound steel thimble crushed a worker’s foot on a lift that should have been hands-free.
SeaRiver Maritime v. Pike
A galley floor everyone knew was slick, ‘featherweight’ Jones Act causation, and a verdict tested on appeal.
The Shipyard Gangway
A gangway step stable four hundred times — until an unsecured block let go.
Reviving Sieracki
A cruise line called him a longshoreman to shrink its duties. The seaworthiness warranty answered.
The Sulfur Barge
A silent gas buildup no one could see — until it blew a sulfur barge apart.
The Pelican Hook
A pelican hook that kept opening — and the snatching-wire injury it set up.
The Trainee at the Helm
A trainee at the helm, a hard collision, and a defense built on how a man put on his pants.
The 9 p.m. Air Hose
An air hose, a watertight door, and a casualty report rewritten to change when the injury “happened.”
Williams v. United States
An uncoated engine-room step-edge, a no-cost fix the government skipped, and a bench-trial win against the United States.
Roberts v. Rigdon Marine
A ship’s master beaten by an unruly crew offshore Angola — and a Jones Act and unseaworthiness verdict that held on appeal.
Burch v. WesternGeco
A head strike in a survey vessel’s slipway woke a silent nerve condition — and the Jones Act’s featherweight causation carried the verdict.
Hamilton v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock
A freshly-painted step with no non-skid, a fall on a dredge near Memphis — and a Jones Act verdict with zero fault on the worker.
Williams v. Diamond Offshore
Blamed for his own back injury aboard the Ocean Lexington, a seaman still recovered — because maritime law’s pure comparative fault reduces a recovery but never bars it.
Vessel Collisions & the Limitation Act
An unlit boat on the Mississippi and a runaway gas carrier in the Houston Ship Channel — and the privity-or-knowledge fight that makes an owner’s liability cap fall.
Norfleet v. Chemikalien Seetransport
A defective crane the operators knew about, a personnel-basket transfer gone wrong in the Gulf — and surveillance that found nothing.
Every case here started with a phone call.
Doyle Dennis Avery LLP represents seamen, offshore and oilfield workers, longshore and harbor workers, and foreign nationals injured on U.S. and foreign waters. We handle a small number of serious matters at a time. A case review costs nothing, and there is no obligation.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Each matter is summarized from the public record of the litigation; confidential matters disclose no settlement figure, and verdict figures are gross jury findings before adjustment. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome — every case turns on its own facts, the applicable law, and the venue. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
