Costa Concordia Legal Consortium
Further bad news emerges as a 17th body is discovered in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia, even as bad weather continues to frustrate salvage attempts. Read more on MSNBC.com.
The Global Justice Maritime Law Consortium offers the following information for the Concordia's affected passengers and their families:
1) U.S. victims. The Costa Concordia is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp. Contracts written into the Concordia's tickets assert all cruise ship lawsuits for U.S. passengers must be brought in the courts of Genoa, Italy. The contract language is called a "forum selection clause," and is common in the cruise industry. U.S. courts have often upheld such clauses as fair, otherwise cruise companies would be forced to defend lawsuits from all over the world. U.S. citizens can challenge international forum selection clauses, arguing they are too burdensome to sue abroad. The unique circumstances of this case merit a challenge.
2) As to passengers as well as employees who are not U.S. citizens the above clause does not apply. Forum non conveniens doctrine may be asserted against these victims if they sue before U.S. courts.
In relation to compensation under Italian law an international agreement called the Athens Convention applies. This Convention provides for a caps as to cruise operator's liability at about € 480,000 per passenger. Plaintiffs may be able to overcome this cap by proving willfulness or recklessness, which may be possible in this case. For example, the passengers may be able to show that the captain was reckless in navigating the ship. Moreover, this limit does not apply in relation to employees and their family members.
Our Consortium is presently representing several hundred of the families of the more than 1,000 passengers who lost their lives in the 2006 fire, capsize and sinking of the ferry Al Salam Boccaccio '98. The claims are being prosecuted in the Genoa District Court and are expected to result in record damages for the Consortium's clients.
Members of the Consortium have more than 100 years combined experience in pursuing fatality and injury claims arising from major maritime and aviation disasters and have played a role in most of the major incidents that have occurred over the course of the last 30 years.
The Consortium includes experienced lawyers from Italy, England, France, Spain and the USA. They only represent claimants and have recovered more than a billion dollars for their clients.
Consorzio per l'incidente "Costa Concordia"
Dateline 27th January 2012
Consorzio per l'incidente della nave "Costa Concordia" I membri del consorzio possiedono più di cento anni di esperienza cumulativa nel risarcimento per decessi e lesioni verificatesi in grandi disastri marittimi ed aerei. I loro componenti sono stati coinvolti professionalmente in molte delle maggiori tragedie degli ultimi 30 anni. Il consorzio include avvocati con esperienza provenienti da Italia, Inghilterra, Francia, Spagna e Stati Uniti. I loro studi rappresentano esclusivamente le parti danneggiate e nella loro attività hanno ottenuto per i loro clienti risarcimenti per più di un miliardo di dollari. Il consorzio attualmente rappresenta le famiglie di alcune centinaia delle famiglie degli oltre 1000 passeggeri deceduti nella tragedia del traghetto passeggeri Al Salam Boccaccio '98, affondatosi, capovoltosi ed inabissatosi nel Mar Rosso nel 2006. La causa è trattata attualmente davanti al Tribunale Civile di Genova e, se accolta, consentirˆ alle famiglie di ottenere risarcimenti di grandi importi.
Media
20 May 2012 : Misconceptions about Victims Rights involved in the Costa Concordia Disaster:
1. Time is NOT limited. A victim certainly has at least one year to take legal action.
2. The Forum Selection Clause provides that any case must be filed in Genoa, Italy. It will be very difficult to overcome this clause.
3. The likelihood of success in a Class Action in the United States is negligible. If there were to be a Class Action, it would only be for US citizens and there would be no need to "seek" to be included in the Class. A Class Action provides for opting "OUT" of a Class, not opting "IN."
4. Caution should be exercised in rushing to do anything. We strongly advise patience and care in examining and understanding your rights.
Urgent Update,
20 May 2012 : We are advising our U.S. Costa Concordia clients not to accept the offer being made from the cruise line company, and to immediately refer all calls from the company to their lawyers. For further information, please feel free to contact the Global Justice Forum at rlieff@lieff.com.
