Introduction to Maritime and Admiralty LawIf you are injured on the ocean while sailing on a vessel, employed on a ship, or working in certain offshore jobs, your injury claim may be covered by maritime or admiralty law. Gerson & Schwartz is a full service maritime law firm located in Miami, Florida. Our Florida maritime accident lawyers have over four decades of experience helping people who were injured at sea, and can evaluate your maritime injury claim for free. Our lawyers routinely assist injured passengers and crew members against all of the major cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian and other foreign operated vessels. Maritime law is a unique area of law with which many attorneys are unfamiliar. At Gerson & Schwartz, we have represented personal injury clients from around the country in a variety of injury lawsuits against all major cruise lines as well as other types of ocean-related employers. If you were injured while at sea, our maritime accident attorneys in Florida have the experience needed to pursue your case.

What Is Admiralty or Maritime Law?Maritime and Admiralty law are rules which govern accidents, injuries, crimes, and business contracts that take place on open waters, from oceans, seas, coastal waters, even some lakes and rivers. These rules decide determines legal rights and remedies they may have what happens when a person has grounds for a lawsuit which are based on actions that took place in State or international waters.

Maritime law is a compilation of federal, international, and common laws that covers most legal matters that occur on the ocean as well as many other types of activities that take place on land but are related to the water. Maritime and admiralty law can cover topics such as cruise ship accidents, marine related injuries, boating accidents, scuba diving accidents, and even exotic as salvaging shipwrecks or punishing piracy and other accidents or injuries that occur on a ship.

Who is Responsible for Injuries on the Water?The person or entity legally responsible for another person’s injuries depends on where and how that person was injured. For example, a ship owner may be liable if a vessel is unseaworthy, or if a crew member is injured during the course of his or her employment. Additionally, the ship owner or cruise line can be liable to injured cruise ship passengers who are hurt due to negligence or intentional criminal act like rape or sexual assault.

Common incidents at sea our Florida maritime accident lawyers have experience in include

• Crew member injury and death claims
• Passenger Injury claims
• Cruise Ship Crime
• Passenger Sexual Assaults
• Offshore Accidents and Injuries
• Catastrophic Personal Injury Claims

Maritime law gives courts in the United States the power to hear personal injury cases (known as jurisdiction) even when a passenger or crew member is injured in international or foreign waters. While these cases may be heard in American courts, admiralty law is very different than state personal injury laws, and the rules governing these cases will not be the same as the rules governing personal injury cases on land.

Seek Help Immediately From A Law Firm That Knows Maritime LawLike other personal injury cases, an injured person wishing to sue a ship owner or cruise line must file a claim within a certain amount of time, known as the statute of limitations. Statutes of Limitations under maritime law varies from case to case. In most cases, personal injury cases in maritime law have a statute of limitations that lasts three years. However, it is important to note that many cruise lines require ticketed passengers to sign a carriage contract when they purchase their cruise tickets that reduce these deadlines to as little as one year. Crew member injury claims may vary depending on the crew member agreement and other factors.

For that reason, it is extremely important to contact a knowledgeable maritime accident lawyer serving Florida as soon as possible after an injury on a cruise ship or other vessel. If you miss these deadlines, you may be time barred from ever filing a personal injury claim and may not be able to recover compensation for your injury.

At Gerson & Schwartz, P.A., our Florida maritime accident attorneys offer free initial consultations and will speak with you about your case for free. For more information about how we can help, contact our office today by calling (877) 475-2905.

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