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It has probably never occurred to most of the millions of annual cruise ship vacationers that they could be seriously injured or even killed while on their vacation. Maybe they missed watching the blockbuster movie, “Titanic”, but even if they saw it, the prevailing thought is that being on vacation somehow makes one infallible. After all, the Titanic accident happened many years ago and ships are much safer now, right? Wrong! Every month, the major cruise lines report incidents such as persons falling overboard, weather-related accidents, and even accidents involving passengers who are attending dry-land excursions away from the ship. A quick visit to cruisejunkie.com allows vacationers to see a list of incidents involving each cruise line and can give you an idea of any cruise line’s safety record and their care of passengers.

Modern cruise ships can carry up to 5000 passengers on a single cruise.  At close to 1000 feet long, the ships have many areas where a person can become injured through no fault of their own. The cruise lines register their ships in various countries, which either makes them subject to the laws of the country where they are registered or subject to maritime law, but not necessarily subject to the law in the United States. Florida Cruise Ship Accident Lawyer, Joseph Maus, says, “depending on when and where your accident occurs, your claim may be controlled by Florida law, Federal Maritime law, or a law from a foreign port. Accidents and injuries which occur on Cruise Ships can be won and lost on requirements which apply only to Cruise Ships. Take a look at your Cruise Ticket for some of these “special” requirements”.

It would seem that passengers who have cruise ship accidents should just be able to file a claim and receive payment the same way they would if they were injured in an accident at home in the States. But because these cruise lines are operating under different rules and laws, you should not try to handle the accident claim on your own. This is one area where you really want to have an experienced attorney standing along side you – specifically one who is skilled in filing claims for cruise ship accidents.

For example, Maus says: “Cruise lines often insert special provisions into their passenger tickets that shorten the time in which a passenger may file a law suit against the cruise line to one year. (The normal statute of limitations for admiralty and maritime matters is three years; for a typical car accident claim it is four years!)”.
These same provisions generally require you to give notice of a claim for injury or death due to negligence against the cruise line within 6 months!
Maus also says: “Cruise lines also designate within their passenger tickets the only location where they can be sued. (Take a look at the tiny print on the back of your ticket). Most of the major cruise lines are based in Miami, Florida and designate Miami, Florida as the location where they must be sued.” This means that if you live in Maine and vacation on a cruise, you may have to litigate in Miami at considerable cost and time to you.

It stands to reason that cruise lines will register their ships under the flags of countries that have laws that favor the cruise company. Consequently, when you see a number of ships registered in a particular country, you can bet that country is one of the more lax in terms of labor or safety laws. The majority of ships are registered in Panama, Liberia, or the Bahamas, and many cruise lines will even register one ship in one country and another ship in another country, in order to get around the laws of the United States. Most cruise lines also advertise that they are, for example, “headquartered in Miami, Florida”. This would make a passenger believe that U. S. laws would protect them. But, this is designed to make passengers feel falsely secure. Being headquartered in the U.S. does not mean the ships are registered in the U. S. – and if they are registered in another country, passengers involved in cruise ship accidents will, again, be at the mercy of the laws of the registering country or maritime law. To top it off, most cruise lines are not even American-owned, which means they can bypass the laws that ordinarily govern American corporations.

This article is not meant to turn you away from that long-dreamt-of cruise vacation. Rather, it is meant to make cruise line passengers aware that cruise ship accidents require navigating through confusing and archaic laws. If you are injured while on a cruise, talk to an experienced cruise ship accident lawyer as soon as you get back to dry land so you can protect your rights.

For more information about cruise ship accidents and advice about an accident claim, contact cruise ship accident lawyer Joseph M. Maus at 1-866-556-5529, visit his website at www.mauslawfirm.com, or email him today.

As a resident of Florida, you may examine and access various documents and state court records filed or maintained by the courts in Florida. However, there is a bit of uncertainty considering your rights towards access certain highly confidential Florida state court records. This is because of the observation that, Florida courts keep certain records confidential under a number of circumstances. To obtain them, you need to approach and request the office staff in the courthouse formally along with filling in a request form.

Court records assist you in uncovering an individual’s public information such as date of birth or age, maiden name or alias, and personal or public associations. Florida court criminal records are popular among other. Fortunately, the prevalent law in Florida has digitized many state court records allowing easy access to the people.

You may feel the need to research an individual’s background thoroughly. The history of a person as preserved via the law may offer you deep insight about that person. If you are a resident of Florida and seek information on the criminal background of your neighbor or desire to know whether your neighbor has undergone a change in name, then you may accumulate this data from Florida state court records.

You may get access to public court records Florida of an individual through online search. However, for retrieving information, you need to visit the county in person . The judicial system in Florida comprises Miami-Dade county courts, county courts and circuit courts. Florida Courts follow a unified system of trial. However, this is with the exception of Miami-Dade, since the judicial system pertaining to Miami-Dade County has different divisions.

In Florida state court records, data considering a person’s contact number, address and other information concerning a person facing trial in the court is out of reach. The cause for this is to defend the accused from prospective harassment or harm. In addition, information about medical records, investigations and juveniles are kept confidential. Further, Florida State courts bar the general public from examining the legal proceedings, which are currently going in, so that it does not harm the verdict.

Florida state court notes are obtainable and therefore , you can get them to know the background of any person. They prove crucial and reveal much about a person, who either is facing criminal trials or is absconding for numerous reason according to the records of the Florida law.

If you are looking for Public Records in Florida, you can save time by searching billions of public records on Florida court public records page.