ADMIRALTY & MARITIME LAW
Admiralty and maritime law applies to events that occur on navigable waters. Navigable waters generally include the oceans, lakes and rivers that can be used for commercial shipping.
Maritime law applies to:
* Cruise Ship Injury
* Pleasure Boating Accident
* Water Skiing
* Fishing
* Diving
* Parasailing
* Jet Skis
* Scuba-Diving/ Snorkeling
* Charter Agreement
* Ship Repairs or supplies and Maritime Liens
* Cargo Loss or Theft
* Salvage Claims
* Jones Act Seaman’s injury
* Crew Wages
* Offshore Oil Rigs
We handle maritime cases located everywhere in Florida, including cases in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, Tampa, Key West, Naples, Panama City, and Pensacola. We can act nationwide with corresponding counsels.
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MARITIME INJURY LAW
In case of injury, we will work on contingency fee. An injured person on a job related to maritime matters is usually entitled to a different set of rules and rights than a person injured on land.
Maintenance: The employer or the owner of the ship must pay for “maintenance” which is a per pay amount for room and board.
Cure: The employer or the owner of the ship must pay for “cure” which is all medical bills related to your injury. A seaman is considered to have reached maximum medical cure when their condition will no longer improve despite further medical treatment.
Unearned Wages: The employer must pay for the lost wages that the seaman would have earned if he was not injured.
Insurance claim adjuster and the employer or the owners of the ship are not looking out for you. Even though some of them are honest, the reality is that most will try to limit their financial burden but limiting your rights. Seamen injured at work should report immediately the incident, seek medical treatment, and be wary of signing incident reports that do not accurately and completely describe the incident.
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Be sure to report the injury as soon as possible, within 7 days of the date of injury if you can. Over 7 days, you can still file a report.
In any case be sure to contact an attorney as soon as practicable, as potential witnesses’ memories fade, people move away or die, and the physical evidence is repaired, or scrapped. Otherwise, your claim to injury, no matter no serious and how obvious, may be lost forever leaving you and your family without the financial support you deserve.
Jones Act
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, Jones Act as it is commonly known, regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports. The cabotage provisions restrict the carriage of goods or passengers between United States ports to U.S. built and flagged vessels. In addition, at least 75 percent of the crewmembers must be U.S. citizens. Moreover foreign repair work of U.S.-flagged vessels' hull and superstructure is limited to 10 percent foreign-built steel weight. This restriction largely prevents American shipowners from refurbishing their ships at overseas shipyards.
Any worker who spends less than 30 percent of his time in the service of a vessel on navigable waters is presumed not to be a seaman under the Jones Act. An action under the Act may be brought either in a U.S. federal court or in a state court. The seaman/Plaintiff is entitled to a jury trial, a right which is not afforded in maritime law absent a statute authorizing it.
LHWCA
The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act is the statutory workers' compensation scheme that covers certain maritime workers, including most dock workers and maritime workers not otherwise covered by the Jones Act. In addition, Congress has extended the LHWCA to cover non-appropriated fund employees (i.e. AAFES employees), outer-continental-shelf workers, and U.S. government contractors working in foreign countries. A worker covered by the LHWCA is entitled to temporary compensation benefits of 2/3 his average weekly wage while undergoing medical treatment, and then either to a scheduled award for injury to body parts enumerated in 33 U.S.C. § 908(c) or 2/3 of the workers' loss of earning capacity.
Defense Base Act
The Defense Base Act is an extension of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The Defense Base Act covers persons employed at United States defense bases overseas.
DOHSA
Death on the High Seas Act covers any death that occurs more than 3 nautical miles from the shore of any state. These claims only allow for the recovery of monetary damages, no non-pecuniary damages. DOHSA damages are calculated based upon the value of the financial benefit that would have been received by the relative from the decedent. According to this calculation, dependent children may recover the value of the care and guidance that they would have received from the decedent parent. Also, a surviving spouse can recover the actual value of the financial contribution a decedent would have made to the family, had he lived, subtracting any amount that would have gone toward maintaining the decedent himself. Death on the High Seas Act Applies to Aviation Crashes At Sea. In March 2000, Congress passed the FAA Reauthorization Bill, which included an amendment to the Death on the High Seas Act amending DOHSA to allow recovery for loss of consortium, care and companionship in all cases of "commercial aviation accidents."
Injuries of Passengers or Crewmembers on Cruise Ships
Cruise lines insert special clauses that apply just to them. Usually the ticket’s fine prints is where the clauses are found. These can shorten the time allowed to file a complaint, decide where in the United States the cruise line can be sued.
Almost every ship, and in particular cruise ships that serve the U.S. tourist market are registered in foreign countries such as the Bahamas, Liberia and Panama. Sometimes the laws of foreign countries may apply depending on the circumstances.
Injuries include:
* Sexual Assault and Rape
* Food Poisoning
* Personal Injury both on board and on shore during excursions
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COGSA Cargo Claims
The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act ("COGSA") is a United States law governing the rights and responsibilities between shippers of cargo and ship operators regarding ocean shipments to and from the United States. It is the U.S. enactment of the International Convention Regarding Bills of Lading, commonly known as the "Hague Rules". It includes a "package limitation" has become one of the most contentious and litigious areas in the field of cargo damage, particularly as it relates to the transportation of goods by ocean shipping containers.
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