Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
Teetering waves and non-code-compliant stairs or railings are a dangerous combination — one that has caused painful injuries for many Leesfield & Partners clients.
While many may not think about the various ways in which they can be injured when they set out on a cruise ship vacation, it doesn’t mean that accidents still aren’t a possibility.
And serious injuries from falls aren’t just something that occurs to the elderly. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that falls occur across all age groups. Even so, the average age of passengers departing from PortMiami is 46.5 years old, according to Industry Reports from the Cruise Lines International Association, showing that relatively young individuals are still falling (no pun intended) prey to these incidents.
As a personal injury law firm with nearly five decades of experience, Leesfield & Partners knows that accidents can happen to anyone. A study published in the National Library of Medicine reported approximately 663 passenger injuries over a three-year period across various cruise lines. Of these, 12.5% were categorized as serious.
Exact annual numbers on the number of medical evacuations from cruise ships departing PortMiami are not publicly available.
If you were injured on a cruise ship, it is important that you do not move from the area where the incident took place as long as you are not in immediate danger. The incident should immediately be reported to the crew and all injuries should be documented. Written requests can later be made to the cruise line to preserve all surveillance from in and around the incident area.
Everything, from you, your injuries and the area where the accident took place should be photographed. Either you should photograph these areas yourself or have a traveling companion photograph them for you. Additionally, you should request that a member of the crew take photos of the area before they begin cleaning it. It is important to document the area before it is altered in any way to demonstrate the state it was in at the time of the accident.
Upon returning home, you should request all documentation from any doctors who examined you following the incident. These documents may be used as evidence in trial and can include anything from X-Rays to doctor’s notes. Submit written requests for incident reports conducted by any crew members or cruise officials investigating the incident.
You should begin contacting a cruise line injury attorney like Leesfield & Partners as soon as possible. It is important to note that there is a short statute of limitations for cruise line cases. In Florida, the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years. Most cruise lines require a notice of claim within six months of the incident with a lawsuit filed no later than one year afterwards.
Leesfield & Partners
With a home base in Miami, Florida, Leesfield & Partners has had the unique opportunity of watching cruise ships compete with one another over the years to become “floating cities” and sea-bound theme parks.
Today’s cruise ships increasingly feature winding slides, slick water parks, and other onboard attractions that, without proper safety measures, can result in catastrophic injuries. When tragedy strikes, Leesfield & Partners stands ready to support injured passengers and their families. To date, the firm has secured over $40 million for cruise ship passengers injured due to that corporation’s negligence.
Many of the painful injury cases brought to Leesfield & Partners have been caused by unassuming hazards such as inadequately maintained railings, slippery surfaces, and hot tub or jacuzzi steps. Despite the commonplace object, our clients have suffered permanent and disfiguring injuries due to a cruise line’s negligence.
Previous Onboard Injury Cases
Leesfield & Partners previously represented a Canadian woman who was traveling on a cruise ship when she was horrifically raped. The woman was in her cabin alone when a member of the ship’s crew abused his employee status and used a keycard to access the woman’s room where he attacked her.
The firm secured a multi-million-dollar amount for the woman in that case.
The firm recovered $2.5 million for a 9-year-old who collided with an unpadded steel grommet while diving for an out-of-bounds ball as he played on a ship’s basketball court. The child in that case suffered a catastrophic brain injury as a result on the traumatic incident.
Similarly, the firm represented a man, 62, who was injured while playing pickleball aboard his cruise ship. The firm settled the case for $500,000.
The firm obtained a confidential settlement for a family devastated by the tragic loss of their young daughter. In that case, the child was separated from her family aboard a ship when she leaned over a poorly designed cruise ship railing and fell five stories to her death.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, is representing a woman who suffers extreme trauma and emotional turmoil after it was revealed she was one among numerous passengers, including children, whose privacy was violated when a crew member planted hidden cameras in their cabins.
That crew member was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
That case is ongoing.
Ongoing Cases
Partner Justin B. Shapiro is representing a woman who was injured on a cruise ship excursion. In that case, the woman purchased a jet ski excursion marketed as one for beginners and was severely injured when the tour guide leading the group crashed into her from behind while attempting to pass her on the water.
That case is ongoing.
Mr. Pimentel is handling an ongoing case of a woman who was further injured by crew members after returning to her cruise from shore. The woman tripped and fell on an uneven bridge on shore, seriously injured her left ankle, knee, arm and elbow, leaving her in a great deal of pain. She was able to walk back to the tender boat where she informed the crew she would need to see the ship’s physician.
No action was taken to ensure that medical personnel would be there to meet her when she arrived. She disembarked without assistance and, while walking up the gangway, paused to gather herself while in extreme pain. She told the crew she needed immediate medical attention. The crew, again, failed to provide a wheelchair or another means of transport to the infirmary. While still on the gangway, crew members approached our client and grabbed her arm. She fell to the floor in agony and was finally given a wheelchair and taken to the infirmary.
While there, she was diagnosed with multiple fractures to her hip and shoulder. Hours later, she was transferred to a remote hospital in Brazil and was left to wait a full week with insufficient medical care before she could be transported to a larger city and then to the U.S. for a full hip replacement.
She spent weeks recovering at a hospital in Florida before she was able to return to her home in another state.
Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano is handling a wrongful death case on behalf of several children who lost their mother at the hands of a cruise ship doctor’s negligence. That case is ongoing.
