Admiralty and Maritime Law

Admiralty and maritime law is made up of federal statutes, international treaties, and federal common law that governs accidents occurring on navigable waters. Navigable waters include waterways that have access to the ocean and are not landlocked. It is a highly specialized area of law that may affect you if you suffered an injury while traveling as a cruise ship passenger, yacht guest, ferry passenger, or airplane passenger, or if you were working as a Jones Act seaman, crew member, offshore oilrig or platform worker, commercial fisherman, long liner, shrimper, crew member, merchant marine, brown water seaman, longshoreman dock worker, ship worker, ship repairman, harbor worker, or longshoreman dock worker. Keith Brais has been a board certified admiralty and maritime attorney for more than 20 years and is one of only a handful of maritime attorneys with actual hands-on real-world experience and appreciation of the dangers of working offshore, having sailed as a U.S.C.G 3^rd Assistant Engineer, 2^nd Assistant Engineer and Assistant Driller on various vessels and offshore oilrigs and drilling platforms for seven years.Cruise Ship Passenger Injuries Our maritime injury lawyers have more than three decades of collective trial experience handling cruise ship passenger injury lawsuits and are located fifteen minutes from the Port of Miami, also known as the Cruise Ship Capital of the World. Maritime law has its own filing requirements and conditions, which differ from personal injury lawsuits arising out of accidents on land. Many cruise lines are based in South Florida, which means that many cruise ship injury cases, per the terms and conditions of the cruise ticket contract, must be filed in the Miami Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, regardless of whether the cruise ship was ever in a Florida port or even touched a U.S. port of call. The firm routinely handles claims against the following cruise lines, both in Miami and across the United States, for example Los Angeles and Seattle:

If you were injured on a cruise ship, we may be able to represent you in a claim for damages. These may include past and future (a) medical expenses, (b) lost wages, (c) pain and suffering and, in some cases (d) punitive damages.

Crew Member Injuries

Crew members who can satisfy seaman status requirements under admiralty law possess remedies and special rights that are not given to other workers. In most cases, shoreside employees are not able to sue an employer because the employer is immune under the Workers’ Compensation Act. However, a seaman can sue an employer that is a shipowner or yacht owner under various uniquely maritime causes of actions, the most common including: Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness and Maintenance and Cure. The Jones Act is a federal statutory negligence claim possessed by seaman against their employer. The seaman must prove the existence of an unsafe, dangerous or defective condition and notice of the condition on the part of the employer. Unseaworthiness is a claim only possessed by seaman asserting a non-delegable duty (form of strict liability) against the shipowner or vessel operator that the vessel, crew or shipboard machinery were not reasonably fit for its or their intended purpose. There is no requirement to prove “notice” in an unseaworthiness claim theory Under either theory of liability the seaman need only prove the dangerous condition or unsafe practice contributed at all to the seaman’s injury. Maintenance and Cure benefits are owed without regard to fault and are another form of strict liability when a crew member becomes sick or injured in the course of his employment. Maintenance is a per diem living allowance, so the seaman can sustain him/herself while recovering. Cure is the obligation to provide prompt and proper medical care until a diagnosis of maximum medical improvement. Other theories that may be available in a Jones Act / crew member claim, include: unpaid or withheld earned penalty wages and unearned sick wages.

Recreational Boating and Water Sport Accidents

Recreational boating and water sport accidents can happen anywhere on or near water, and they can inflict serious or even fatal injuries. Drowning injuries involving oxygen deprivation can give rise to brain damage, like diminished cognitive abilities or even worse, permanent vegetative state. If you were injured in a recreational boating or water sport accident, you may be struggling with medical bills, wage loss, and pain and suffering. Our maritime injury attorneys handle injury claims arising out of personal watercraft accidents, defective watercraft, boating accidents, yacht accidents, ferry boat accidents, charter vessel accidents, dinner cruise accidents, and scuba diving accidents. The circumstances will dictate the theory under which we can pursue damages. Some cases are governed by maritime law. However, when there is defective equipment to blame for a scuba diving accident, for example, it might be appropriate to pursue compensation under another theory, such as a product liability theory.

Offshore Injuries

Too often, safety offshore is compromised in order to save money. Offshore injuries are often results of accidents while oil drilling or exploring on an offshore drilling rig. Mr. Brais worked aboard oil drilling rigs for seven years and is well positioned to assist oil rig drilling platform workers who were injured in an accident aboard a rig. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act governs offshore operations. Under this law, federal agencies regulate all phases of the production, exploration, and development of gas and oil. This law provides that any holder of a lease or permit has a duty to keep all places of employment within a lease area in compliance with occupational safety and health standards and free from recognized dangers to employees. They also have a duty to keep all operations in compliance with regulations meant to protect people on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Defective Marine Products

Sometimes injuries result from explosions, sinkings, groundings, or fires caused by defective marine products. Defective products could include engines, electronics, generators, wires, batteries, drive lines, fuel tanks, and propellers. The defects may involve manufacturing, design, mislabeling, or the improper integration of one part with other components. Product liability lawsuits are often complex. Sellers and manufacturers of defective products may utilize defenses such as the economic loss rule, lack of privity, or warranty restrictions to avoid paying compensation. Mr. Brais brings to his clients’ product liability cases insights gleaned from a B.S. in marine engineering and seven years served as a U.S. Coast Guard licensed engineer.

Maritime Wrongful Death

Work performed in offshore environments can be dangerous, and these working conditions can result in a maritime wrongful death. A marine employee’s family members may be hit hard by the loss of an employee, and they may need to pursue wrongful death and survival claims. Our maritime injury lawyers have helped the families of cruise ship passengers, crew members, and merchant seamen who have been killed in a shipboard or offshore accident. The applicable law will hinge on whether the decedent was a maritime worker or a passenger, as well as the location of the wrongful death. Maritime laws that may apply include the Jones Act, the Death on the High Seas Act, and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

Personal Injury

If you are injured in an accident on land caused by someone else, you may be able to recover damages by bringing a personal injury lawsuit. In most cases, you will need to prove negligence. This requires you to show that it is more likely than not that the defendant owed you a duty of care, the defendant breached the duty of care, causation, and damages. The standard of care and how it can be breached will depend on the circumstances. If you can establish liability, you can recover compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and out-of-pocket costs, among other types of damages.

Railroad Worker Injuries

Railroad workers cannot bring a workers’ compensation claim if they are injured on the job. Instead, they must bring a claim under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). You are covered by FELA if you are employed by a railroad operating across state lines, you are injured on the job, and your injury was caused by the railroad’s negligence. To recover compensation under FELA, unlike state workers’ compensation laws, you will need to establish the railroad’s negligence. However, all that need be proven is that the railroad did not provide a reasonably safe place to work.

Aviation Accidents

Our firm can help victims who have suffered injuries arising out of an airplane accident. The Warsaw Convention governs many of these claims. Under the Warsaw Convention, there is a presumption of liability against an air carrier for the death or injury of a passenger involved in international travel. However, there are strict limits on the damages that can be recovered by a passenger against an air carrier. The Warsaw Convention does not apply to claims against the manufacturer of the airplane or one of its components.

Premises Liability & Negligent Security

Premises liability and negligent security [lint to negligent security page] lawsuits can be brought to recover damages from property owners that have not maintained their property or issued warnings about non-obvious dangerous conditions of which they knew or should have known. To recover damages after a slip and fall in a restaurant, for example, you would need to show that the restaurant owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition that caused your injuries. For another example, the drowning of a child in a pool without proper safety barriers or drain covers is another situation in which damages may be recovered in a premises liability lawsuit. The firm has vast experience with drowning and suction entrapment claims of all types. Negligent security claims are also brought against property owners but most often for the third-party criminal acts, for example assaults or sexual assaults, which more likely than not would not have occurred but for the lack of security.

Consult an Experienced Maritime Injury Attorney

The Brais Law Firm represented large maritime employers and insurers for nearly two decades. The major cruise lines, marine employers and marine insurers, like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Lloyds of London and many more, hire who they consider to be the best in the industry. More than ten years ago, Keith Brais gave up his defense practice and dedicated the remainder of his career to helping individuals, and only individuals. Those with real injuries and in need of help following a serious personal injury or death of a family member versus corporate defendants who regardless of fault and absent any sense of morality refuse to provide lawful and appropriate compensate. Following this decision to help only ordinary people, the Brais Law Firm has recovered nearly $60 million in verdicts and settlements since 2012. The firm’s credentials speak for themselves: Board Certified by the Florida Bar in maritime law, “AV” Preeminent Rated with Martindale-Hubbell, Multi-Million Dollar Advocate, Super Law, Florida’s Legal Elite, Association of American Trial Lawyers Top 100, America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators and The Marquis Who’s Who Publication. Call us at 800-499-0551 or complete our “Contact Us” form to set up a free consultation and get the help you need today.