One of the most difficult legal concepts for people who have had an accident on a cruise ship and are pursuing a personal injury claim against the cruise line to understand and accept is the legal concept of liability- which means that unless and until their accident can be proven to be caused by the carelessness of the cruise line.
In other words, simply slipping and falling, tripping and falling or even being sexually assaulted on a cruise does not automatically entitle the victim to be compensated by the cruise line. This means that in order to actually have a viable case it has to be proven that the fall is the cruise line’s fault. And while it is easy to say- it is often extremely hard to do in the realities of actual maritime litigation, primarily because the source of this information, specifically what the cruise line knew or should have known about the alleged dangerous condition, such as the wet deck, ill-repaired staircase or poorly marked threshold that caused the accident in the first place is solely in the cruise line’ corporate data bank- and they aren’t about to upload that information without a fight.
Proving Fault
For example- simply asking for a list of all of the known passenger accidents that have occurred in a manner similar to the one at issue will invoke a heated objection and a trip or two or three to a Federal judge where arguments are made- by both sides- usually resulting in an order forcing the cruise line to spit out the least amount and of course least helpful information possible. This forces the plaintiff’s lawyer to often scurry around the world trying to piece together enough cryptic evidence as fast and as inexpensively as possible- before the giant clock on the wall times out (meaning the end of the discovery period or expert disclosures or both) and the defendant moves for summary judgment- essentially saying to the judge and or jury- “see we did nothing wrong, this is not our fault, how could we possibly have known of this danger” and in other words, the plaintiff cannot prove her case- kick it out- or let’s throw a few peanuts at her.
All the while the plaintiff herself is trying to recover from the accident- usually faced with surgeries, mounting medical expenses and the financial pressures from being out of work. The system is far from perfect.
The best and perhaps most effective way to combat the bullying effect that most of the major cruise lines employ when defending their profits from the lawsuits of an injured cruise ship passenger is to hire a lawyer who has the knowledge, experiences, resilience, and passion to protect their legal rights. And this lawyer has to know how to position your case in the best possible way to either settle or win at trial- which includes investigating your claim by getting the evidence to understand how, and where the accident occurred – and why.
Hiring A Lawyer For Your Cruise Ship Accident Case
Our Miami cruise ship injury law firm has represented injured passengers in claims against the major cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Disney, MSC, Princess and Holland America since 1991. Let our years of experience and success help protect your legal rights by holding the cruise line accountable for your lost wages, medical expenses, loss of enjoyment of the cruise and your pain and suffering.
Call us today for a free initial consultation toll-free 1-866-597-4529, local 305-441-0440 or by email at [email protected] and speak with an experienced maritime personal injury attorney. We are available 24/7 and are ready to help you.
