David Singer Calls for a Billion Dollar Fund to Protect Victim's Rights, Claims
HOLLYWOOD, Fla., 2012-01-24 23:22 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Carnival Corp., the parent of Costa Cruises, whose captain sailed its Costa
Concordia into a reef – capsizing the ship, killing at least 15 passengers and
injuring others – should establish a billion dollar victim's fund to ensure its
passengers are duly compensated for their pain, suffering and losses. "The move
is especially important given the difficult and complicated jurisdictional maze
Americans and foreign nationals alike face in making claims for this tragedy.
At present, the Costa Concordia victims are relegated, thanks to the small
print in their ticket, to Italian courts and to limited damages," said David W.
Singer, a Hollywood, Fla., attorney focusing on maritime and cruise injury
cases.
"It's beyond burdensome and unfair for a billion dollar cruise line that
markets to the world to force claimants to litigate exclusively in Italian
courts. The 'choice of forum' selected by these multinational corporations
stack the odds against passengers," Singer said. "I take Carnival Chairman
Micky Arison at his word when he says, 'I give my personal assurance that we
will take care of each and every one of our guests, crew and their families
affected by this tragic event.' This is why it would be prudent and just for
Carnival Corp. to establish a fund to compensate the passengers harmed on its
ship, monitored by an independent panel of preeminent experts."
The program Singer is suggesting would be modeled on the $20 billion fund
established by British Petroleum following the 2011 Gulf oil spill. The money
has been used to compensate families and businesses harmed or devastated by the
spill. Similarly, Costa is facing lawsuits and hundreds of millions of dollars
in compensation, by some estimates. "I maintain the fund models a legitimate
response to this tragic situation," Singer said.
"This is a significant issue faced by millions of cruise ship passengers every
year, but never really considered until a tragedy occurs," Singer explained.
"You can only hide behind a 'choice of forum' clause in a passenger document's
fine print for so long before the moral and true legal obligation becomes
clear. People will need compensation. Carnival Corp. must do the right thing."
Serving the legal community for more than 32 years, attorney David W. Singer is
the managing partner of David W. Singer & Associates, P.A., one of South
Florida's largest personal injury and wrongful death law firms.
CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT:
Caren Berg of Boardroom Communications
954-370-8999
Attorney David W. Singer
954-920-1571
http://www.1800askfree.com
http://www.yourfloridamaritimecounsel.com