Practice Areas - Admiralty Maritime Law

Most Commercial Ships Have Rules to Make it Almost Impossible for You to Recover for Injuries at Sea

Although admiralty law covers ship accidents, it does not subsume other laws. There are usually many other local, federal and state laws relating specifically to injuries at sea from negligence.

Most sea vessels are actually registered in foreign countries. Many of these vessels unfurl foreign flags. This means the country the ship is registered in may have laws covering the vessel as well. Many of these laws might be better for the injured passenger than U.S. laws. This is why you need an experienced cruise ship accident attorney. As an example, a ship that has its port of departure in Los Angeles, California may be covered under the laws of the state of California, and the laws of the United States. It may also be covered under the laws of the country of the foreign flag the ship flys, as well as international treaties between the U.S. and the other. Our local law firm have the knowledge to litigate claims from foreign ports of call, and domestic ports of call, such as Carnival ship accidents.

You may need to bring claims against the U.S. under the Suits in Admiralty Act, or Public Vessels Act. The experienced cruise ship negligence attorneys at our local California law firm will sue whatever country is responsible for your oceanic injuries, including far away countries like the Bahamas for example.

Come to our harbor . .

We are expert in admiralty and maritime law, and can provide you with the legal representation you need to recover damages for the negligence of an ocean liner, or for boating injuries or other accidents that occur in the ocean, lakes, or rivers. Many horrible things happen on ships to weary travelers that necessitate admiralty attorneys and lawyers. For example, violent criminal acts such as sexual assault, like rape. This is why you need admiralty/maritime attorneys. Even murder and wrongful death is an issue seen a lot in the news lately. The best rated admiralty attorneys will help you nagivate your maritime case. If you or a loved one departed from a California port on a ocean liner vacation and were injured, look no further. The Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego Law Offices of Michael P. Ehline are the admiralty maritime law attorneys for you and your loved ones.

Other Less Well Know Injuries

There are many ways a person can be injured aboard a ship. Dangerous conditions on the vessel can result in injury-such as a slip and fall on a wet deck. A passenger may contract food poisoning or be assaulted by another passenger. Excessive speed may cause an accident with another ocean liner. A boat may be overloaded, causing it to swamp, resulting in the death or serious injury of a seaman or passenger.

In addition, accidents involving boats and people in the water--such as swimmers, scuba divers, or water skiers--are an altogether too common occurrence because of the careless or reckless operation of an ocean-going vessel by a boat captain.

No Matter Where at Sea You Were Injured, Ehline Can Help You

Lawyers and attorneys from other states often refer their clients--who were injured on vacation aboard a ship-- to our law firm, because of our special expertise in admiralty and maritime law.

If you are searching for experienced local maritime attorneys, the California law firm of Michael P. Ehline, P.C., have the legal skills you are searching for. Admiralty and Maritime law, deals inter alia, with the law of the sea, including crimes on navigable waters throughout the world. Navigable waters are waters running over the all oceanic bodies throughout the world. This includes large bodies of waters such as lakes and rivers usually involved in commerce, or commercial shipping as an example. Navigable waters include territorial waters, like U.S. waterways. Navigable waters also include the high seas. Territorial waters are defined as waterways close to a land mass. High seas are defined as waterways far away from a land mass. Sometimes it is difficult to tell when a waterway is territorial, or on the high seas. In some U.S. states, territorial waters usually are three miles from land.

The boundaries in territorial waters of some U.S. States are sometimes hard to determine based upon a jagged coastline for example, or the gulf stream, if say in Georgia, or Florida as another example.

Contacting only the Best Maritime Lawyers Could be Your Only Victory at Sea

Admiralty and Maritime law is a very specialized field of law requiring a local attorney with advanced trial skills. The Ehline Law has these special legal skills. Our California cruise ship attorneys won't hesitate to bring your ship accident case to a jury trial. To discuss your potential cruise line personal injury claims, call our local California law firm on the 24 hour attorney hotline at 1-888-400-9721.