Accidents on cruise ships are much more common than many people might imagine, from relatively minor incidents like slips and falls on deck, to more serious problems like impacts from unsecured objects or even falling overboard. On top of that, taking effective legal action over injuries aboard cruise ships can be uniquely complicated. There is a mixture of federal and state laws that may play into this sort of claim.
Fortunately, you have support available from knowledgeable maritime injury attorneys with years of experience handling similar cases successfully in the past. If you are dealing with the aftermath of an injury while taking a cruise or working on one, contact a Beaumont cruise ship accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Because cruise ships generally operate in international waters, there are often unique rules and restrictions for personal injury claims based on injuries which occurred during a cruise. Many of these are set by federal law rather than state law. For example, even if a cruise begins and ends at a port in the state of Texas, the company which owns and operates that ship may require passengers to sign off on a “forum-selection clause” before boarding, which states that litigation must be heard in the courts of a different state.
There may be unique rules for how long someone who gets hurt aboard a cruise ship has to notify the cruise liner about their injury. There may also be restrictions on what types of accidents a passenger may have legal standing to sue over in the first place. A Beaumont attorney can provide vital guidance about what rules may apply to a particular cruise ship accident claim, as well as prove a cruise owner and/or operator failed to ensure their vessel was reasonably safe and in good condition for passengers.
Perhaps most importantly, a qualified lawyer could help maximize the total amount of compensation that a cruise ship worker or passenger can obtain for their injury-related losses. More specifically, they can identify and assign fair financial values to “compensable damages” like:
Support from a cruise ship injury lawyer in Beaumont can be especially important during private settlement negotiations following the accident. Cruise ship companies devote lots of money and effort towards fighting personal injury claims. Getting a fair settlement offer through that kind of opposition can be virtually impossible for any individual plaintiff to accomplish on their own.
While cruises can be fun vacations for the whole family, they can also be deceptively dangerous to passengers and crewmembers alike. Fortunately, you still have legal rights after getting hurt through someone else’s misconduct even if you are out in international waters when the injury happened. You have rights even if the vessel was technically registered in a country other than the United States.
That said, enforcing those rights can be difficult without help from dependable legal counsel. Call today to learn what a Beaumont cruise ship accident lawyer could do to help with your unique situation.
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