Helping Those Injured On The Water
Sport anglers on charter boats, whale watchers, ferry passengers, harbor tour passengers, and marine wildlife tourists can all suffer injuries in collisions or accidents on the water. If you suffered an injury on a salmon charter or tour boat, contact the maritime personal injury attorneys at Brodsky Micklow Bull & Weiss LLP.
Passengers injured on such vessels are neither Jones Act seamen nor cruise ship passengers, but intricate questions of federal maritime law and admiralty jurisdiction can still play a decisive role in resolving their cases.
How Injury Claims Work
Typically, the plaintiff will seek to establish negligence on the part of the owner or operator of the vessel. Unseaworthiness, including matters concerning the vessel’s equipment and maintenance, is not an issue in these cases in the same way it relates to Jones Act claims but can be considered as evidence of negligence.
As in cases involving recreational boating accidents, an owner claiming no knowledge of negligence or dangerous conditions might try to limit its total liability exposure to an amount equal to the value of the vessel, as the city of New York sought to do after the Staten Island ferry disaster in 2003. This figure is always just a tiny fraction of the true damages in a water disaster involving many victims.
Determining How Much Compensation Should Be Paid
Damages questions in lawsuits involving ferry, tour or charter boats can be very difficult, and often involve conflicts between state and federal law. In order to make sure your claim settles for its full value, you need skilled and experienced maritime personal injury representation.
If you’ve been injured on a charter fishing vessel, whale watching boat or harbor tour, contact Brodsky Micklow Bull & Weiss LLP. It’s very unlikely that even a skillful personal injury lawyer who’s unfamiliar with maritime law can identify and analyze the full range of your rights or anticipate the defenses you’ll face. Because we concentrate our practice on California maritime injury claims, we’ll be sure to pursue all of your available claims.
How To Contact Our Law Firm
Contact our law firm by calling toll-free Hotline at 855-272-5380.