A cruise can mean fun, adventure, and beautiful sights. But a cruise can also mean slippery surfaces, cramped quarters with sick passengers, and limited access to medical care. Basically, a cruise ship can present as many opportunities for an injury as it can present opportunities for a good time.
If you suffered an injury on a cruise ship, one of our highly experienced cruise ship injury lawyers at Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP can bring you the legal protection and relief that you need and deserve. We work tirelessly to safeguard our clients, and we have recovered tens of millions for personal injury victims over the years.
Cruise Ships Owe Their Passengers a Duty of Care
In general, a cruise ship is a common carrier, and it owes its passengers a high degree of care, which means its employees and agents need to be very prudent, cautious, and competent when providing services. Everyone from the ship manufacturer to the captain, the engineers, the chefs, the doctors, and the stewards must avoid negligence when doing their part on the cruise ship. If a cruise ship you were on failed to meet its high degree of care and that failure resulted in your injury and financial damages, you might have a right to sue.
How Do Passengers Suffer Injuries on Cruise Ships?
There are multiple ways an individual can suffer a cruise ship passenger injury, and some common causes of cruise ship injuries include:
- Slips and falls;
- Improperly handled food;
- Close quarters that spread disease,
- Tainted water, and
- Unsanitary conditions that spread disease.
The above-listed circumstances could mean broken bones, respiratory illness, food poisoning, infectious disease, a traumatic brain injury, or a slew of other chronic or acute conditions. If your health has changed in any way since traveling on a cruise ship, speak to one of our cruise ship injury lawyers right away so that we can determine whether you have a right to compensation.
What Kind of Legal Relief Can I Recover After a Cruise Ship Injury?
There are several types of financial compensation you can obtain in a Texas cruise ship passenger injury case, such as the following:
- Economic damages. These damages should cover all of your financial losses caused by the injury, including medical costs, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and the cost of replacing or repairing damaged property.
- Noneconomic damages. These damages should pay you for emotional or mental anguish, pain and suffering, physical impairment, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, loss of companionship and society, injury to reputation, and inconvenience.
- Exemplary damages. These damages are meant to punish the defendant when its actions are fraudulent, grossly negligent, or malicious.
Proving that you have a right to these damages could require multiple hours of work, gathering and analyzing medical records, receipts, invoices, employment information, etc. At Armstrong Lee & Baker, our skilled and diligent attorneys work around the clock to uncover every compensable loss and maximize our clients’ recoveries.
Can I Sue in Texas?
Your ability to sue a cruise ship business in Texas depends on your circumstances. Cruise ships stop at so many ports and are also in international waters, so when you endure a personal injury on a cruise ship, jurisdiction for a lawsuit can be tricky to determine. After receiving medical attention for your injuries, one of the first things you want to do in the aftermath of suffering harm on a cruise ship is to check the agreement between you and the cruise ship business.
Your agreement likely has a clause that states you must bring your legal actions in a particular state and according to a particular state’s laws. Sometimes that state is Texas, and sometimes it isn’t. If you are a Texas resident and your cruise agreement dictates that you initiate your case in another state, you will likely have to sue in that state.
If there is no provision in your cruise agreement that requires you to sue in another state and the cruise ship business is not a Texas-based business, Texas’s long-arm jurisdiction laws could give you the right to sue in Texas. Under the state’s long-arm law, a plaintiff can sue in Texas under the following circumstances:
- If the cruise ship business or its agents commit at least part of a tort in Texas;
- If the cruise ship business or its agents enter a contract with a Texas resident by mail or otherwise and at least one party to the contract must perform at least part of the contract in Texas; or
- If the cruise ship business recruits Texas residents for employment, even if the employment occurs outside of Texas.
Given the large workforce needed to run a cruise ship and the several tasks a cruise ship business must perform at each port, you may be able to establish jurisdiction in Texas for your cruise ship personal injury case. We can review your cruise paperwork and the circumstances of your case to help you bring your suit in the most convenient forum possible.
Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP Can Be Your Best Advocate
Getting hurt while you are on vacation can be one of the worst experiences. If you suffered an injury on a cruise ship, our cruise ship injury attorneys can provide you with the best representation. Our attorneys are at the top in multiple ways: top honors in school, top advocates recognized by the legal community, top awards for our clients, and top-notch work for our clients. Our clients come first, and we meet each client with compassion, which is so important when someone is dealing with the fallout of a negligently or intentionally inflicted injury. With our compassion comes an unparalleled work ethic and extensive experience and skill in personal injury law. We are here to take care of you, and we don’t charge for our services unless we win your case. So, reach out to us if you need the guidance and protection of a good attorney. You can contact us online or call us for a consultation.
Scott Armstrong obtains remarkable results for his clients. He has successfully tried numerous cases to favorable verdicts and reached significant settlements on his clients’ behalf. In the process, he has recovered millions for his clients.