Cruise Injury Attorney in Florida

Steven M. Dunn, P.A.

1135 Kane Concourse, 5th Floor Miami, Florida 33130 USA

 (305) 868-1400
 (305) 868-1409

www.stevendunnlawoffices.com
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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

Steven M. Dunn, P.A. a Miami, Florida attorney provides legal help in sea injury law, including Maritime law, unsanitary conditions, scuba diving accidents, commercial boat collisions and criminal assaults. Over the years, the firm has successfully handled well over a thousand cases in the areas of serious injury, wrongful death, maritime law, longshore claims, social security disability, State of Florida disability retirement, and all types of wrongfully denied or delayed insurance claims, including long-term disability claims. In more recent years as the need for long-term healthcare has arisen, our firm has shifted its focus to meet the demand for representation in long-term healthcare/home health care insurance claims.

The Law Office of Steven M. Dunn, P.C. has decades of experience and the necessary resources to take on complex personal injury cases, including wrongful deaths and serious injuries. Our injury lawyers will help you seek justice and also to recover compensation for the high costs of medical bills, lost earnings, bodily injuries, physical pain and mental anguish, disfigurement, and inconvenience. If you or a loved one has suffered serious personal injury or you suspect an irresponsible party may have caused the death of a family member, you need to act quickly. The sooner a personal injury lawyer can begin to gather and preserve evidence, the better chance you have to protect your rights and recover the compensation you deserve.

Practice Areas

Practice Areas Description

Peter M. Dunn provides legal services and representation in the following areas of law:

- Maritime Law

Florida boasts a vast maritime industry with more cruise ships embarking and more recreational boats and yachts registered than any other U.S. state. Along with the tremendous traffic at sea, there are numerous sea-related accidents, injuries, and illnesses that are subject to maritime law. Attorney Dunn provides services in: personal injuries at sea, passenger claims, possible grounds for personal injury claims under maritime law and crew claims.

- Personal Injuries at Sea

Maritime law governs business and commerce on the seas. Maritime personal injury arises from accidents involving recreational boats, yachts, commercial ships, and cruise ships. Accidents and injuries to passengers on cruise ships, illnesses on cruise ships resulting from food poisoning, unsanitary conditions, exposure to harmful chemicals, scuba diving accidents, commercial boat collisions, criminal assaults onboard ship, or injury and sickness to crew working on cruise and commercial vessels are actionable claims under United States Maritime Laws.

- Passenger Claims - Cruise Ships

Cruise lines are a worldwide booming industry with approximately 7 million passengers per year boarding cruise ships. While cruise ships cater to passengers providing luxury accommodations and services, the laws that govern accidents and injuries on cruise ships are quite specialized and were initially designed to serve the shipping industry’s advantage. For example, even though the statute of limitations is three years for filing a personal injury claim against a cruise ship, many cruise ships have passengers sign contracts which contain clauses that require a personal injury claim to be filed within one year and stipulate one location where the claim must be filed. Most of the major cruise lines require suit to be filed in Miami, Florida.

- Personal Injury Claims under Maritime Law

The following are the types of mishaps, accidents and injuries that may provide grounds for personal injury claims for passengers or crew members under Maritime Law: cruising accidents and collisions; failure to provide adequate medical care to crew; faulty shipboard equipment; exposure to harmful chemicals; unseaworthy conditions; passengers overboard; hazardous decks and stairwells; insufficient or improper ship maintenance; assault of passengers/crew; sexual assaults; infectious disease transmission; fires or explosions; inadequate safety and evacuation procedures; missing passengers and crew; and substandard or lack of security. For excellent legal representation for serious injuries or illnesses suffered as a result of negligence at sea, please arrange a consultation to discuss your case.

- Crew Claims

Crew claims for illness and injury while under employment on vessel in navigable waters are covered by maritime law. Under general maritime law, a shipping company has an absolute duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. A seaworthy vessel includes proper training for crew, hiring a competent crew, hiring a sufficient number of crew, using safe working methods, using safe equipment that functions as intended, engaging in safe navigation practices, and looking out for the safety and well being of the crew. So if a crew member is injured because he or she or fellow crew members were not properly trained, or not enough help was given to perform a an assigned task, or equipment such as a ladder, stairway, door, tools, winches, or any other part of the vessel did not work the way it was supposed to then a seaman is entitled to money damages.

- Jones Act

The Jones Act is a law enacted by Congress that adds to the obligations of a maritime employer. In addition to providing a seaworthy vessel, under the ones Act the employer must provide the seaman with a safe place to work, and if a seaman becomes injured or ill, the employer must provide the seaman with prompt and adequate medical treatment. This is a non-delegable duty, which simply means that the employer will be responsible if the the doctors it chooses commits medical malpractice and causes additional injury to the crew member. The Jones Act allows for full recovery for injury to a crew member, unlike traditional state workers’ compensation laws and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which limit compensation. Administration of recovery under the Jones Act also does not require state or federal agencies, but instead a judge, jury, or arbitrator will determine the recovery amount for the injured party.

- Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act

The Employment Standards Administration, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the U.S. Department of Labor are the agencies which administer claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA). Similar to state workers’ compensation laws, no party must be found negligent in order for an employee to receive benefits under this act. Employees who become disabled while working on U.S. navigable waters or adjoining areas such docks and piers or those used in buildings or repairing a vessel or loading or unloading vessel cargo may receive compensation and medical care under the LHWCA. When an employee dies from injury on the job, the surviving family may receive death benefits under this act as well.

- Personal Injury

Serious harm caused through another’s negligence or wrongful actions is called personal injury, and as a broad legal area, it encompasses a wide range of injuries that occur as a result of accidents, malpractice, defective products and other hazards. Some of the many legal areas categorized as personal injury include, but are not limited to the following: auto accidents wrongful death, construction accidents, trucking accidents, nursing home abuse/neglect, paralysis, dog bites, spinal cord and head injury, premises liability, slip and fall, medical malpractice, and products liability. The Law Office of Steven M. Dunn, P.C. has decades of experience and the necessary resources to take on complex personal injury cases, including wrongful deaths and serious injuries. Our injury lawyers will help you seek justice and also to recover compensation for the high costs of medical bills, lost earnings, bodily injuries, physical pain and mental anguish, disfigurement, and inconvenience.

- Catastrophic Injuries

Serious injury, also referred to as catastrophic injury, is so extensive that the injured individual has at least one bodily system that has been severely affected, often the central nervous system. Paraplegia, quadriplegia and other types of paralysis may result. Brain damage, loss of limbs or sight or hearing are other extremely serious injuries that impact the individual’s life, causing intense pain and necessitating long-term care. In most cases of serious injury, the medical and long-term healthcare expenses are so exorbitant that the family has no other recourse but to seek the legal assistance of a successful and experienced personal injury lawyer. Obtaining just compensation becomes a necessity to cover injury expenses incurred and to provide for future medical needs.

- Insurance Claims

Because insurance policies, which are written by insurance companies and their lawyers, are noted for their "complexity", and the average policy holder has difficulty understanding the coverage provided and excluded, it is wise to have an attorney review the policy to protect your rights. Insurance companies employ adjusters and retain their own attorneys to interpret insurance policies in their favor. They reduce or deny benefits, whenever possible. At Steven Dunn, P.A., our lawyers will manage or negotiate your initial claim, appeal an improper denial of a claim on your behalf, or litigate against the insurance company if necessary to help you obtain your financial security.

- Long-Term Care Insurance and Home Health Care Insurance

Assisted Living Facility care, Nursing Home care, as well as Home Healthcare assistance are services that can and should be covered under Long-Term Care Insurance policies. To be sure, the costs of Long Term Care and Home Care are overwhelming and can deplete a person's life savings very quickly. Therefore, denials by the insurance companies can and do cause families to undergo perhaps the greatest challenges they might ever have to face-how to get adequate care for their parents and grandparents and how to pay for it. Insurance Companies operate for profit. The profits are derived from the premiums you pay less the expenses of operating the company, including salaries of the officers and employees of the company, and finally the claims they have to pay out. The less they pay in claims, the more profit they make. It is that simple. Consequently, there is always tension between the insurance company’s duty to act in good-faith towards its insured when it receives a claim, and its drive to maximize profits. For a person who has paid insurance premiums faithfully for many years in order to protect against a financial loss, to be met with resistance and denials at a time of need creates pressure and a vulnerability no one should ever have to endure.

- Long-Term Disability

Many people purchase long-term disability insurance to cover their needs in the event that they are seriously injured or suffer from debilitating illness or disease, thus becoming unable to work. At Steven Dunn, P.A., our lawyers represent clients at every stage of the insurance claims process, offering legal advice regarding whether to attempt continued work, or to leave, or quit their job or whether to sell businesses based on disability. If you have just begun fighting for your claim, or have been pursuing your claim while being hassled by the insurance company or have been denied, we will review your issues to determine how we can help. Early legal intervention always serves toward a disabled client’s advantage for obtaining a favorable outcome.

- Uninsured Motorists

Because some motorists fail to carry liability insurance, insurance companies provide uninsured motorist insurance to cover damages for accidents caused by motorists who are not insured. Even though you have sought to protect yourself against damages through uninsured motorist coverage, many insurance companies will deny or attempt to minimize compensation for such claims. Our firm represents clients in uninsured motorist claims to help them secure the compensation they are entitled to receive. In addition, if your insurance claim has been unjustly denied, our firm may be able to obtain compensation not only for policy benefits, but also for other losses incurred, such as emotional distress and general damages, lawyers' fees, and other out-of-pocket expenses. In extreme cases, the court may even award punitive damages.

- Homeowner and Business Insurance Claims

Our lawyers represent homeowners in cases involving insurance bad faith for denied property damage coverage caused by mold, fire, theft, water, hail, and other perils which should be covered by their homeowner’s insurance. We seek compensation for property damage, interest, and when appropriate, punitive damages. Similar to insurance claims for homeowners, business insurance claims often seek to recover damages resulting from factors such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fire, mold, plumbing pipe bursts, lightening surges, and others such as theft and loss of warehoused inventory. When you encounter unreasonable delay, a failure by the insurance company to investigate your claim, threats if you refuse to settle, or an unreasonable denial of your business insurance claim, you will not usually recover the compensation your business deserves. Also, liability insurance is designed to protect your business against lawsuits.

Attorneys

Mr. Steven M. Dunn Attorney Cruise Ship Accidents, Insurance, Personal Injury

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