American Cruise Lines, the largest river and small cruise ship line in the U.S., announced its newest ship was christened in Key West.
The ceremony, which was held last week in Key West, was held to honor the company’s newest ship, the American Legend. This ship is part of the cruise line’s Project Blue series, a new fleet of 12 identical sister ships that the company claims will more than double the nation’s current capacity for domestic coastal cruises.
Following its christening, the ship will continue sailing the Florida Gulf Coast and Keys cruises before heading to Chesapeake Bay in March. By the summer, the American Legend will operate coastal New England voyages stretching along the east coast including locations like New York and Boston.
With additional opportunities for cruising, expanding the already booming industry, Leesfield & Partners knows firsthand how crucial it is for companies to ensure that they are taking all reasonable precautions to ensure guest safety. As common carriers, cruise ships have a nondelegable duty to protect passengers from harm. This heightened responsibility means that ships must ensure passengers are safe from hazards such as falls that can occur from loose railings or
In 48 years of personal injury practice litigating various injury cases, including those stemming from accidents on ships, Leesfield & Partners knows that these companies are not always keeping up with these standards. And, when these tragic accidents do occur, cruise lines will try everything in their power to escape liability.
Leesfield & Partners: Decades in Key West
The history of the firm in Key West precedes its 1976 establishment with the first case of its Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, in 1973. That case, Taylor v. Strunk Lumber, involved the death of a 14-year-old boy and was the first in the state to be tried under the Florida Supreme Court’s comparative negligence law. This law replaced contributory negligence, which negates recovery if the plaintiff is even slightly negligent for their injuries. Following Mr. Leesfield’s success in that case, he went on to establish Leesfield & Partners in Miami in 1976. Since then, the firm has expanded to include three offices in Key West, Miami and Orlando and has secured numerous record verdicts and settlements for injured clients throughout Florida.
Among record verdicts obtained by Leesfield & Partners out of Monroe County, Florida, is a negligent security case involving a resort hotel in Key West. This verdict is the largest in Monroe County history.
Our client was attacked by a man with a hammer who was neither a guest nor an employee of the hotel. He was allowed to enter the unlocked parking garage and wander around for 20 minutes, undetected due to the negligent security of the resort. As a result of the horrific attack, our client sustained serious and permanent injuries.
Leesfield & Partners secured a confidential settlement for the client the night before a $40,580,000 verdict was returned.
A Monroe County bicyclist who was stopped off the shoulder of the Overseas Highway was severely injured when a distracted driver hit her. The driver was busy fiddling with the car’s GPS at the time of the crash.
Leesfield & Partners obtained $5.3 million for the bicyclist in that case.
A prominent restaurant owner and well-known Key West community member was severely and permanently injured when an ambulance violating state law ran a red light. The scooter rider had a green light when he was hit by the ambulance. The paramedic operating the emergency vehicle claimed he was on his way to an urgent call at the time of the crash but was not using his emergency lights or sirens at the time, leaving no indicators to our client that he would proceed into the road. As a result, our client was thrown into a cement wall and suffered severe injuries such as disfigurement to his face and fractures to his back.
The firm settled the case for $2.1 million.
In another Key West scooter case, this time involving a Georgia scooter rider, the firm obtained a $5.2 million settlement after a driver failed to stop at a red light and crashed into our client. The injuries in that case were catastrophic.
Previous Cruise Ship Injury Cases
Every year, thousands of cruise ship passengers are injured aboard ships for various reasons. And, every year, thousands of these passengers file personal injury claims against these cruise lines. Most of these claims fall under premises liability, where a cruise line fails to maintain a safe environment for passengers on its ship. However, Leesfield & Partners has extensive experience in this area of personal injury law and has encountered nearly every type of case imaginable. To date, the firm has secured over $40 million for cruise ship passengers injured due to that corporation’s negligence.
From a fall on a pool deck that caused a painful injury likely needing surgery, to a fatal fall from a cruise ship balcony, our attorneys have seen the devastating fallout of these injuries and the impact they have on clients due to a company’s negligence.
One family represented by the firm tragically lost their 8-year-old girl when she fell five stories to her death on a cruise ship. The child had separated from her family and learned over an interior railing. The badly built railing shifted the child’s center of gravity and resulted in her fall. A six-figure recovery was obtained for the family in that case.
The firm has seen dozens of slip and falls and trip and falls aboard cruise ships resulting in over $3 million in recovery for clients. The majority of these falls were due to wet pool decks or wet floors, and all could have been easily avoided.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, is handling a case where a cruise ship employee was found to be filming passengers in their private bathrooms. Our client, who has been left with emotional scars and PTSD following the incident was one of many passengers whose privacy was violated due to the actions of this employee. Others who were filmed include minors. The employee who planted the hidden cameras was sentenced to federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
That case is ongoing.
Another negligent security case handled by the firm involved the brutal rape of a Canadian tourist who was traveling on a cruise ship. An employee abused his employee status and used his keycard to enter her room and attack her.
In addition to premises liability and negligent security cases handled by the firm, Leesfield & Partners has also litigated numerous cases involving medical malpractice aboard ships and shore excursion injuries.
Recently, Partner Justin B. Shapiro filed a case in which a woman on a jet ski tour suffered severe spinal injuries after the tour guide meant to lead the group crashed into her from behind.
When discussing the case with local media, Mr. Shapiro said it was a “recipe for disaster.”
“If there’s any kind of incident you’d never expect on one of these jet ski tours it’d be that the tour guide, the protector, is the one who crashes into you and shatters your spine,” he said.
If you or a loved one were injured in a cruise ship accident, don’t wait—call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today at 800-836-6400 or 305-854-4900 for a free consultation to find out if you’re eligible to file a claim.