Cuizer2 Posted February 8, 2012 #351 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Let me give my two cents based on what other legal commentators have been saying on the news. Usually when gross or criminal negligence is involved a written contract will be not enforced in U.S. courts. The first thing the lawyers will attempt to do in this Costa case is to squash the provisions of the cruise ticket contract - it is an uphill battle but they are likely to succeed according to legal pundits on T.V. The example this lawyer cites in the article of someone falling down and breaking their leg on a cruise ship - a situation that did not involve gross or criminal negligence of the officers & crew is very different than the Costa Concordia. The decision to enforce the contract terms when someone breaks a leg is expected and appropriate. Let me provide my own personal example. For many years I used to coach youth soccer. Part of the coach licensing process was to understand the basics of waiver contract law for your club. Basically to play a sport in the U.S. parents sign a waiver not to sue the club if their child gets hurt. This translates as follows in practice; if a kid breaks their leg in a game due to contact with another child with no criminal intent then the waiver is legally binding. If I as a coach go over and beat up the kid and break his bones, and get arrested for criminal assault, then waiver will be tossed out in court and the club will be liable in civil court. This is why coaches go through extensive criminal background checks and a pysch interview in the U.S. before being allowed to coach youth sports. I expect these same legal concepts will hold true in the Costa Concordia case in the U.S. - only time will tell if my opinion is correct (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice). Patience is a virtue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquil Waters Posted February 8, 2012 #352 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Passenger Vessel Services Act. Yes, I was on a cruise site so was able to figure it out without a disclaimer/clarification. Just as I was able to figure out that posters here were not offering legal (but rather personal) opinion without that disclaimer that you were looking for..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey_d_mouse Posted February 9, 2012 #353 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Just received an email from Costa Shanghai saying she hopes to be able to tell me what expenses Costa will reimburse me for today........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiserfanfromct Posted February 9, 2012 #354 Share Posted February 9, 2012 This is just coming out of Italy now - John Eaves, US attorney is asking for 2 Million dollars for each of his clients: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilgiornale.it%2Fcronache%2Fcosta_concordia2_milioni_risarcimentoper_vittime_statunitensi%2Frisarcimenti-vittime-costa_concordia%2F09-02-2012%2Farticolo-id%3D571330-page%3D0-comments%3D1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuizer2 Posted February 9, 2012 #355 Share Posted February 9, 2012 This is just coming out of Italy now - John Eaves, US attorney is asking for 2 Million dollars for each of his clients: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilgiornale.it%2Fcronache%2Fcosta_concordia2_milioni_risarcimentoper_vittime_statunitensi%2Frisarcimenti-vittime-costa_concordia%2F09-02-2012%2Farticolo-id%3D571330-page%3D0-comments%3D1 And a mother in New York is suing for $900,000,000,000,000 ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/295180/20120208/900-trillion-suit-mother-sues-staten-island.htm http://news.yahoo.com/900-trillion-lawsuit-proves-mentally-unstable-not-represent-184400460.html Neither is likely to get what they want. But both are receiving media attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquil Waters Posted February 10, 2012 #356 Share Posted February 10, 2012 And a mother in New York is suing for $900,000,000,000,000 ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/295180/20120208/900-trillion-suit-mother-sues-staten-island.htm http://news.yahoo.com/900-trillion-lawsuit-proves-mentally-unstable-not-represent-184400460.html Neither is likely to get what they want. But both are receiving media attention. Makes the Concordia suits seem downright reasonable now doesn't it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qtlikeme Posted February 10, 2012 #357 Share Posted February 10, 2012 After reading about the offer that Costa was proposing to passengers for the past 2 weeks, finally a courier dropped our letters off to us today! And now we only have until Feb 24th to have the papers signed and they have to arrive in Florida in just over 2 weeks. I am not sure what to do..... I have been experiencing the effects of the trauma and am currently off work as I can not concentrate on my stressful job in the medical field. How can I be sure that I will get "over" these problems and be able to return to my former self? I certainly hope they can extend this deadline in my case. We have been in contact with the Florida office and they have directed us to call someone in New York and when we talked to him today, he did not seem to know what to say but told us he would call back tomorrow! I am starting to get more and more stressed as I think about all this!!!! Any one with suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiserfanfromct Posted February 10, 2012 #358 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Do you know how the other Canadian passengers are proceeding? I would try to get in touch with all the groups and all the attorneys representing groups and research all your options before accepting anything. I'm not suggesting not to accept Costa's offer and am certainly not in the position advise you legally, but if I were in your shoes I would make certain I thoroughly investigated all other possibilities before proceeding. After reading about the offer that Costa was proposing to passengers for the past 2 weeks, finally a courier dropped our letters off to us today! And now we only have until Feb 24th to have the papers signed and they have to arrive in Florida in just over 2 weeks. I am not sure what to do..... I have been experiencing the effects of the trauma and am currently off work as I can not concentrate on my stressful job in the medical field. How can I be sure that I will get "over" these problems and be able to return to my former self? I certainly hope they can extend this deadline in my case. We have been in contact with the Florida office and they have directed us to call someone in New York and when we talked to him today, he did not seem to know what to say but told us he would call back tomorrow! I am starting to get more and more stressed as I think about all this!!!! Any one with suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquil Waters Posted February 10, 2012 #359 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Agreed. One should really have time to feel comfortable with any decision they make after a traumatic event. I am always suspicious of "time limited" offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey_d_mouse Posted February 11, 2012 #360 Share Posted February 11, 2012 After reading about the offer that Costa was proposing to passengers for the past 2 weeks, finally a courier dropped our letters off to us today! And now we only have until Feb 24th to have the papers signed and they have to arrive in Florida in just over 2 weeks. I am not sure what to do..... I have been experiencing the effects of the trauma and am currently off work as I can not concentrate on my stressful job in the medical field. How can I be sure that I will get "over" these problems and be able to return to my former self? I certainly hope they can extend this deadline in my case. We have been in contact with the Florida office and they have directed us to call someone in New York and when we talked to him today, he did not seem to know what to say but told us he would call back tomorrow! I am starting to get more and more stressed as I think about all this!!!! Any one with suggestions? Sounds like they are treating all of us passengers like crap. Have you lodged the reimbursement forms yet, I have lodged mine but received no information back as to what they propose to pay as yet. Qtlikeme, if you woud like to message me your email I can pass on the information that a lot of of the other english speaking passengers have been sharing re the various sharks ( oops I meant lawyers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qtlikeme Posted February 12, 2012 #361 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Michele my email is lablaurie8@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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