Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.) Derived From the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 901 et seq.)

Just as the Jones Act, the Federal law which governs personal injury cases involving seamen, relies on FELA, the Federal Employers Liability Act, established in the 19th century to protect railroad workers, for it’s substantive law, the Defense Base Act relies on the Longshore and Harbor Workers Act for its substance law.

42 U.S.C. 1651(a), the first clause of the Defense Base Act, states that the provisions of 33 U.S.C. 901 et seq. apply with respect to any employee of a defense contractor injured overseas in the course and scope of employment. Due to the relative underdevelopment of DBA jurisprudence, legal guidance in DBA cases often derives from LHWCA precedent.

Read our other blogs to learn the particulars of the DBA/LHWCA. It is a fascinating and complex area of the law with significant consequences for those who are severely injured and their loved ones.
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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.