Longshore / DBA
Federal workers’ compensation claims require disciplined case assessment, coverage awareness, and coordinated defense across venues and jurisdictions. Galloway Johnsons Tompkins Burr & Smith partners with employers, carriers, and TPAs with strategies calibrated to operational realities and program objectives across the Gulf South and Midwest, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Missouri.
Galloway’s federal workers’ compensation attorneys are skilled, pragmatic, forward-thinking, knowledgeable, and have over 75 years of combined experience in these highly specialized and technical matters.
Scope and Focus
Galloway attorneys defend claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) and its extensions, including the Defense Base Act (DBA), Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), and Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act (NAFIA). Our team aligns litigation decisions with exposures, medical and indemnity considerations, and employee/employer positions, and we efficiently leverage early investigation to position cases for resolution or trial as appropriate. When available, we evaluate Special Fund limited liability and War Hazards reimbursement as part of our comprehensive strategy.
Our Longshore/DBA attorneys are communicative and responsive, and they offer strategic insight into a continually changing and challenging adjudication process.
Services for
Employers and Carriers
- Longshore/DBA defense: coverage, compensability, medical and indemnity disputes, wage-capacity analysis, and Section 8(i) settlements.
- Limiting liability: Special Fund Relief, War Hazards reimbursement, and attorney fee challenges.
- OWCP/OALJ/BRB advocacy: claim handling from initial filings through hearings and appeals.
- Program-aligned strategies: coordinated discovery, expert selection, early case assessment, dispositive motion practice, and appeal preservation.
- Coordination across practices and across state lines: strategies that account for state workers’ compensation and maritime considerations in tandem with federal claims.
Longshore Act
LHWCA claims can turn on coverage, situs, status, medical causation, and wage earning capacity. We work from the outset to assess the interaction between medical and vocational evidence and to address issues that influence indemnity and medical exposure. Galloway attorneys regularly appear before the Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ). They also practice appellate work before the Benefits Review Board (BRB We integrate trial readiness and settlement negotiations, including preparation of Section 8(i) settlements, when aligned with claim objectives.
Defense Base Act
DBA matters require precise coordination with U.S. and overseas claims administrators and related parties, exact attention to record development, and familiarity with jurisdictional and evidentiary issues unique to overseas military contracting. We defend DBA coverage disputes, medical and indemnity issues, and attorney-fee challenges with a process that emphasizes early fact development and expert engagement. Where applicable, we assess the availability of War Hazards reimbursement and related offsets as part of a broader resolution plan.
Coordination Across Jurisdictions and Disciplines
Longshore claims frequently intersect with state workers’ compensation and maritime exposures. Galloway attorneys collaborate across practice areas and across states to address concurrent or alternative forums, indemnity and lien implications, and risk transfer. Our integrated approach and regional reach support consistent positions across pleadings, discovery, and settlement planning.
Agency Coordination and Process
Effective defense requires clear and timely communication. Galloway longshore attorneys maintain strong professional working relationships with OWCP claims examiners, administrative law judges, the U.S. Solicitor’s Office, and opposing counsel, and we coordinate with international claims management resources when foreign nationals or overseas injuries are involved.
We emphasize proactive discovery and record development in federal workers’ compensation matters. Galloway longshore attorneys have extensive experience defending orthopedic injuries, psychological claims, hearing loss claims, and claims for traumatic brain injuries, and regularly cross-examine treating psychologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychiatrists, and other medical experts.