Areas of Practice
Cruise Ship Accident & Claims
As cruise ship accident lawyers we have extensive experience in litigating admiralty and maritime cases in the cruise line context.
Cruise Ship Accidents and Claims involve that part of maritime law that pertains to cruise ships only. While much of the general maritime law has general application to cruise ship matters, there are special laws that apply just to cruise ships. For example, cruise lines often insert special provisions into their passenger tickets (which are authorized by United States federal statutes) that shorten the time in which a passenger may file a law suit against the cruise line to one year. The normal statute of limitations for admiralty and maritime matters is three years. Also cruise lines can designate, within their passenger tickets, the only location where they can be sued. This is referred to as a forum selection clause. Most of the major cruise lines are based in Miami, Florida and designate Miami, Florida as the location where they must be sued. In almost every case where passengers have been unaware of the cruise lines forum selection clause or have otherwise chosen to ignore it and filed a law suit in another jurisdiction, the law suit has been dismissed leaving the passenger with no means of recovery against the cruise line. With our experience as cruise ship accident lawyers we can put our knowledge to work and help you with your maritime legal issues.
Also, almost every cruise line vessel is registered in a foreign country and flies a foreign flag. The law of the country of registration of the vessel could potentially apply to events on cruise vessels and could potentially be more favorable to the claimant than United States law. This creates many opportunities for experienced admiralty attorneys and many obstacles for those attorneys who are unfamiliar with maritime law. For example, a ship that begins its voyage from Miami, Florida could have the laws of the state of Florida, the laws of the United States, the laws of the flag country and international treaties apply to events and occurrences which happen aboard it.
