Have you or a loved one ever experienced a severe personal injury or death during a cruise or a related shore excursion?

Michael Eriksen has prosecuted many major lawsuits in state and federal courts in Florida arising from severe injuries or deaths occurring during cruises. These cases may be governed by U.S. federal maritime law rather than state law.

Most if not all cruise ship operators restrict lawsuits by passengers in the fine print of their cruise tickets, which most cruise lines post on the Internet. For example, all cruise tickets require suits by passengers to be filed within a certain amount of time, in a certain court, in a certain place. Typically, passenger lawsuits involving injury or death, must be filed in a court specified in the ticket within one (1) year of the incident. Additionally, most if not all cruise tickets typically require separate written notices of the claim, from the passenger or legal representative, to be received by both the cruise operator and any responsible “independent contractors” (such as ship’s doctors, or spa and excursion operators) within six (6) months of an injury or death. A given cruise line’s contractual restrictions on claims by passengers may vary, depending on where a cruise is purchased. Therefore, injured passengers and/or their legal representatives should access and carefully read the relevant cruise line’s passenger ticket contract that is relevant to the country of purchase (posted on the Internet).

Failure to follow these contractual rules runs the risk of the court dismissing ensuing lawsuits against the cruise operator and any responsible contractors of the cruise line.

Prosecuting claims against cruise lines for injuries or death is not for lawyers unfamiliar with maritime law (Mr. Eriksen is dual-Board certified by the Florida Bar as a Specialist in both Civil Trial Law and Admiralty & Maritime Law).

The magnitude and difficulty of handling these kinds of lawsuits requires (from an a attorney) a significant amount of time, money, extensive research, and careful attention to detail. Because Mr. Eriksen limits his representation to a few select cases, every client receives his personal attention. He devotes the time required to carefully prepare each case for trial and thereby move it to a more rapid, successful conclusion.

Mr. Eriksen personally handles all cases accepted by Eriksen Law Firm. He personally deals with his clients, who are not relegated to paralegals or legal assistants. All preliminary client consultations with Mr. Eriksen are absolutely free; and Mr. Eriksen charges a “contingent fee,” which means he gets paid a fee and reimbursed for expenses only if he recovers money damages for his client.

A rational way to evaluate and select a plaintiffs attorney is to identify, contact, and ask lawyers who have opposed them (rather than relying on an advertisement or website of an unfamiliar plaintiffs lawyer). Defense law firms which have opposed Mr. Eriksen in the recent past, and are familiar with him, include Horr, Skipp & Perez; Mase, Seitz, & Briggs; and Fertig & Gramling.