A Cruise Ship Rape Lawyer that Protects Victims
Compassion—Experience—Results
Meet John H. (Jack) Hickey
“We are fighting for the safety and security of you and your family. We make cruise ships safer and more secure one case at a time. Hi. I am John H. (Jack) Hickey. I was born and raised right here in Miami, Florida, where I have practiced law for the past 28 years. I got my start representing the cruise line and railroads and insurance companies. For the last 11 years, I have represented you—the cruise ship passenger who has been injured or the victim of the cruise line’s negligent security or negligent hiring. I know the cruise line’s side of the story, and now I want to know your side of the story. Unless you call me now, I cannot help you—and nothing will change on these ships. Call today toll free at 1.800.215.7117. The call is free and the consultation is free. We work on a contingency basis, which means that if we do not collect, you do not pay.
—John H. (Jack) Hickey, Cruise Ship Rape Lawyer
Why is Safety a Problem on Cruise Ships?
Safety and security are important anywhere. On a cruise ship though there are 3 things which make it different. First, you and your family are isolated. You are a captive audience, and cannot just get off at anytime. Things may happen on the ship when the ship is in the middle of the ocean, or at a port in a third world country.
Second, the cruise line has control over you and the other passengers and the cruise line has a responsibility to see to your safety and security. There are certain rules to follow to ensure the safety of passengers. These rules are recognized and accepted in the industry and in the security business. The cruise line should monitor activities of people in the ship. It has security video cameras throughout the ship, but it tries to save money by not monitoring some of the cameras or by not having some of the cameras hooked up to monitors in the first place. The cruise line should react to situations when it sees something or should see that something needs to be taken care of. The cruise line should actively look for situations which could lead to an assault, rape or battery. The cruise line should hire and screen the crew to eliminate people who are likely to assault passengers. The cruise line should train its security staff to look out for problems and should hire enough security officers to keep track of 2000 to 3000 vacationing passengers onboard a cruise ship with 900 to 2000 crewmembers. These are all things that the cruise lines should do, but when the cruise line breaks these rules of security, they know that assaults and batteries, both sexual and non sexual, can occur and they are responsible for these events.
Third, there is no real, independent police force which enforces the law and which keeps you and your family safe and secure. The only security on the ship is provided by the cruise line through its own employees. You and your family are on a ship which has a “foreign flag”. That means that the cruise line, in order to avoid U.S. taxes and regulations, registered or flagged the ship in a foreign country. When you get onto that ship, you are on a piece of the foreign country. The cruise line chooses countries which have as little regulations or taxes as possible. They usually choose The Bahamas or Panama. (Of course, the ships regularly come to U.S. ports. The cruise lines market to, and rely on, U.S. citizens to buy tickets and go on cruises. In fact, the cruise lines have headquarters here in the U.S. for the most part). The maritime law does hold the cruise line accountable for negligent security and for causing sexual assaults or rapes, or non sexual assaults and batteries, and the cruise line still can be held accountable in a U.S. court by the people who serve on the jury.
Why Start Hickey Law Firm, P.A. to Help Victims of Cruise Ship Assaults?
John H. (Jack) Hickey started his career representing cruise line, railroads and insurance companies. After 17 years, he switched sides in order to represent the victims of serious crimes. For the past 11 years, Hickey has represented the victims of crime and negligence on cruise ships. Having worked for both sides, Hickey has the experience and perspective to help you with your case when you need a cruise ship sexual assault attorney.
John H. (Jack) Hickey is an experienced and well known trial lawyer. He is Board Certified as a Trial Lawyer by The Florida Bar and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and he is rated A/V by Martindale-Hubbell, the international directory of attorneys. He is nationally recognized as an admiralty and maritime attorney. John H. (Jack) Hickey currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Admiralty Law Section of the American Association for Justice, the national trial lawyers association, and lectures and writes on admiralty and maritime law.
Success and Results
John H. (Jack) Hickey has also been a member of the “Legal Elite” in Florida Trend Magazine. He is the past president of the largest voluntary Bar Association in Florida. His most recent verdict against a cruise line was Bakalar v. Royal Caribbean Cruises. The $3.4 million verdict was upheld in appeal on January 16, 2008. Results count. John H. (Jack) Hickey has achieved many multimillion dollar verdicts for his clients. More importantly, he and his firm have been instrumental in making cruise line more accountable for the safety and security of you, the passenger. As a result of their cases, some things have changed, but not enough as you know. We are fighting for the safety and security of you and your family.
Why is it Important to Have a Cruise Ship Sexual Assault Attorney in Florida?
Many cruise lines include clauses on their tickets which require the passenger to file any claim against the cruise line in Miami, Florida. The Supreme Court has upheld the enforceability of these ticket clauses. The cruise lines that require the passenger to file a claim in Florida are: Royal Caribbean cruise line, Celebrity cruise line, Carnival cruise line, Costa cruise line and Norwegian cruise line.
How Soon Must You Act?
In addition to requiring that claims need to be filed in Florida, ticket clauses also require that any suit needs to be filed within one year of the incident. It is important that you act quickly. Call today for a free and confidential consultation at 1.800.215.7117.