Cruise Ship Law

Man talks about altercation on ship

A cruise ship altercation nearly two weeks ago that left San Diego grocer Scott Boney in a coma fighting for his life began as a random encounter between Boney and Kade McRae, 21, a construction worker from Ogden, Utah.

McRae said Boney, the owner of the Windmill Farms store in San Diego's Del Cerro neighborhood, appeared intoxicated when he bumped into him on Carnival Cruise Lines' Elation several hours after the ship sailed from San Diego on a five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

What started as a seemingly harmless, if not odd, exchange between the two men escalated within a few minutes into a series of grabs and shoves that sent Boney tumbling backward down a flight of 10 steps, according to accounts given in recent days by McRae and several of his friends, who were the only ones present when the altercation occurred.

“It's just the wrong place at the wrong time,” McRae said yesterday. “It's an unfortunate accident.”

Boney's wife, Elizabeth, and other family members declined to comment about the encounter, according to Windmill Farms spokeswoman Aimee Cebulski.

“There are always two sides to every story, and unfortunately in this case, Scott remains unconscious, unable to speak for himself,” Cebulski said yesterday. “The family is confident the entire truth will come out through the course of the investigation by authorities. Until that time, the family is focused solely on Scott's recovery.”

The FBI is investigating the incident. McRae was confined to his stateroom for most of the cruise but has not been charged with any crime.

Boney, 50, has been unconscious since the incident, which occurred about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 17. He has undergone two surgeries at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla, one to relieve pressure from brain swelling and another to remove a blood clot, family friends said. He remains in an induced coma on life-support systems.

An e-mail sent Thursday by Boney's brother, Stan Boney, to family and friends described a bleak outlook. “As expected, this morning's CAT scan . . . showed extensive damage from the trauma.

“Although the doctors are not optimistic, there is a chance that the damaged areas of the brain will begin to heal themselves. It'll take a few weeks before they know if the damaged areas begin to heal, or not,” he wrote.

Boney is a second-generation grocer whose family started the Henry's Marketplace chain, which was sold to Wild Oats Market in 1999.

Both Boney and McRae were traveling with friends on the Elation.

Boney and his wife were joined by three other couples, said Phillip Bensimon, who was part of the group. “We were celebrating Scott's 50th birthday,” he said yesterday.

McRae, who is training to become a helicopter pilot, was traveling with about 20 friends.

The first few hours of the cruise were typical for both groups as they explored the ship and ate dinner. Around 11:15 p.m., Boney left his wife and friends in the casino and wandered toward the back of the ship, into a hallway leading to a pair of stairwells where McRae's group had gathered.

“All of a sudden I felt some bumping, and I turned around and that guy was right in my face,” said McRae, a weight lifter who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs about 210 pounds. “I said, 'What's up?' and he said, 'What's up with you?' ”

McRae said Boney, who is 6 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds, was holding a drink and had alcohol on his breath. “You could tell he was pretty drunk,” he said. “I thought, oh, it's going to be a drunk guy who is going to make us laugh.”

McRae, who said he had two drinks earlier in the evening, said he introduced himself and shook Boney's hand. Boney responded with his own introduction, but McRae and his friends apparently misunderstood the grocer's last name.

“He said, 'I'm Mr. Bunny,' ” McRae said. “Everybody repeated it. In a way, it kind of made me laugh.”

As McRae stepped around Boney to follow his friends up the stairs to the next deck, Boney cursed him and said “die,” McRae said.

McRae said he looked back at Boney. “He said, 'Yeah, you heard me. I'm going to (expletive) kill you tonight,' ” McRae said.

By that time, McRae's friends had changed their minds and were coming back down the stairs. McRae said he followed their lead, and as he passed Boney, the grocer slammed into his shoulder.

When McRae reached the bottom of the stairs, the men exchanged more heated words. McRae said Boney repeated his earlier threats several times.

“I'm like, what the hell is this guy going to do. I'm looking down to see if he's going to pull out a knife,” McRae said.

The two men grabbed each other as they faced off again, and McRae shoved Boney.

“I pushed him off me, and he fell back and fell down those stairs,” McRae said.

Boney made no effort to stop or break his fall as he tumbled backward onto a landing below, McRae said.

Elation passenger Don Mort said he was the first person to reach Boney moments later. Mort, who is the chief of police in Dixon, a city of 17,500 about half an hour's drive west of Sacramento, had been walking down an adjacent stairwell when he heard a loud thud and went to investigate.

Boney was breathing but unconscious, and blood was pooling under his head.

Mort said he recognized McRae and his friends from an uncomfortable encounter earlier in the evening outside the ship's dining room.

“My general observations of him and his friends were that they were obnoxious,” Mort said. “They were using foul language. They stood out.”

Bensimon, who had been with Boney earlier that evening, said McRae should have left or sought help from a security guard.

“They chose to engage a 50-year-old man who was inebriated. That's a pretty bad choice,” he said.

By Keith Darcé
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 5:30 PM | Permalink

Cruise industry officials tell a House panel of few incidents. Victims demand laws to regulate the business.

By Kimi Yoshino
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Crimes on cruise ships are "remarkably low," a cruise industry official told a congressional subcommittee Wednesday, pointing to a recent five months of incidents reported to the FBI.

But more victims came forward, including a young woman whose attorney said she was raped by a Royal Caribbean crew member who used his keys to enter her cabin while she slept.

The victims emphasized problems with how crimes are handled aboard ships and demanded that laws be passed to regulate the cruise business and its massive ships operating under foreign "flags of convenience."

It was the fourth hearing on cruise crimes and follows a March meeting of the House subcommittee in which lawmakers ordered industry executives and victims to work together to improve security measures.

At the time, the FBI, the Coast Guard and the cruise industry announced a voluntary agreement to report serious crimes. That deal was condemned by the advocacy group International Cruise Victims, which called it a last-ditch effort to stave off formal regulation and a repeat of industry promises in the 1990s after a previous spate of bad publicity.

At Wednesday's lengthy hearing, both sides acknowledged that some progress had been made. Still, lawmakers insisted that the industry present another status report in 90 days.

"There's some reaching going on by the industry, but maybe they're not reaching far enough," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Coast Guard and maritime transportation. "More needs to be done."

Industry and law enforcement officials testified that between April 1 and Aug. 24, the FBI received 207 reports of serious crimes, including four missing Americans, 41 sexual assaults and 13 thefts of items valued at more than $10,000. Of the 18 open cases, 13 involve sexual assaults.

Although cruise officials, the FBI and the Coast Guard all said they were satisfied that serious events were being reported, it remained unclear how the public would obtain the information. There are no plans to publish the data on any website. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Wayne Justice said the figures could be obtained by filing a Freedom of Information Act request, which is a lengthy and potentially costly process.

Industry officials said they were committed to improving safety and working with victims.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Cruise Lines International Assn. announced the formation of a "Survivor Working Group," to be composed of victims or their families, senior-level cruise line executives and representatives of industry groups, who will meet quarterly.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. -- the cruise line that has faced the most scrutiny in part because of high-visibility incidents -- has hired at least two former top FBI officials. One of them, Gary M. Bald, now the company's senior vice president of global security, rattled off several steps the company took in the last six months to improve safety and the treatment of victims.

"Ultimately, this process is not about statistics or even about past incidents, although both are important," Bald said. "It is about preventing even a single negative experience on a cruise ship. This is no small task."

Among the changes, Royal Caribbean is installing peepholes on cabin doors in its two newest ships and working on an existing ship. The company plans to install peepholes on doors of all its ships, a spokesman said.

In addition, Royal Caribbean has hired female investigators and counselors, put suicide hotlines in place and required mandatory sexual harassment training. In January, the company will begin notifying guests of a shipboard policy that crew members are not to fraternize with customers.

Additionally, cameras are being installed in hallways and corridors, though Bald conceded that those cameras were not being monitored.

"We're pleased at the initiatives that Royal Caribbean may be taking; we're disappointed that it has taken so long," said William M. Sullivan Jr., an attorney who testified Wednesday and is representing a 20-year-old woman who said she was raped by a crew member in March. The woman called the ship's 911 line, but the employee who answered did not take her seriously -- and laughed, Sullivan said.

He accused the cruise industry of "ambiguous, amorphous happy talk" and said after the hearing, "There was a lot of dodging and weaving."

His client's alleged rape, which was reported three weeks before the March hearing, would have been preventable with easy fixes, including limiting crew members' access to rooms by taking away their keys at the end of their shifts, Sullivan said.

As Sullivan recounted his client's story, Laurie Dishman, a Sacramento resident who testified in March about her rape on a Royal Caribbean cruise, said, "I just sat there and cried. It was like going through it all over again. I testified that I was hoping there wouldn't be another Laurie Dishman. And now there already is."

Dishman, who said she was treated insensitively by cruise line personnel and required to gather the evidence in her cabin by herself, took her case to Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), who urged Cummings to call the hearing. After Wednesday's testimony, Matsui said she still didn't see "definitive progress" in education, reporting and services related to crimes on cruise ships.

"I firmly believe that to do justice to the noble victims who have so bravely shared their stories, we must take definitive action," Matsui said. "There have to be better mechanisms for crime prevention and better systems for handling the crimes when they occur."

On Monday, Matsui and other lawmakers introduced the Protect Americans From Crimes on Cruise Ships Resolution recognizing the lack of federal regulation of crime reporting, absence of law enforcement officials and lack of information made available to cruise customers. No legislation has been introduced to specifically address the issue, but Matsui and others have expressed interest in drafting such a bill at the request of victims.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 5:19 PM | Permalink

Colin Farrell's Personal Dresser For Film Settles Claims Over Injuries

(AP) Actor Colin Farrell apparently wasn't the only one partaking in all of the action scenes during the filming of the "Miami Vice."

Farrell's personal dresser on the "Miami Vice" set has settled a lawsuit against the movie's production company two years after she fractured her jaw during filming.

Joulles Wright's attorney, Charles Lipcon, and the defendants' attorney, Bob McIntosh, confirmed Thursday that the lawsuit has been settled, but terms were not disclosed.

Wright, of Atlanta, was riding on a speedboat when an improperly secured bumper broke off and struck her in the face, according to the lawsuit filed in June 2006 in Miami-Dade County.

Wright, who had been hired as Farrell's dresser during the filming of the movie in Miami, allegedly needed surgery and had to have her jaw wired after the August 2005 incident.

The lawsuit claimed the speedboat was unsafe and the defendants did not give Wright adequate medical care, which aggravated her injuries and caused additional pain, mental anguish and lost wages.

The defendants involved in the settlement were MV Film Productions L.L.C. and Entertainment Partners Inc., McIntosh said.

"Miami Vice," starring Farrell and Academy-Award winner Jamie Foxx, is an update of the TV police series that helped define '80s pop culture.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 5:14 PM | Permalink

A man was killed and his son badly hurt, in a boating accident off the Brevard County coast.

It happened about six miles off shore from Port Canaveral.

Christopher Diaz of Oviedo was killed and his son, Christian Jensen, was badly hurt.

The two were apparently heading to shore when they collided with another boat carrying three Merritt Island men.

Diaz's boat capsized and both were thrown into the water. They were in the water for nearly a half hour before Good Samaritans and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.

However, by then it was too late.

"You had the whole open ocean out there. The odds of two vessels hitting each other are slim to none. It's very rare that we have an accident like this take place," Lenny Salberg from the Fish and Wildlife Commission said.

So far, no one has been charged in the crash.

Central Florida News 13

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 5:07 PM | Permalink

A videographer and photographer shooting a boat were killed when the aircraft hit water.

By Heather Allen and Cathy Zollo
The Herald Tribune

VENICE -- A helicopter, flying low to photograph a model in a speeding Cigar Boat, plunged into the Gulf of Mexico near Casey Key on Tuesday morning, killing two photographers and injuring the pilot.

The helicopter's skids may have grazed the water, causing the aircraft to flip over and crash into calm Gulf waters about one mile offshore, said Lt. Chuck Lesaltato, spokesman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Killed were Thomas Newby, 50, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., the chief photographer for Powerboat Magazine, and Mark Copeland, 44, of North Carolina, an Emmy-winning video photographer.

The pilot, Mark A. Watters, 44, of Pasadena, Calif., was in fair condition Wednesday at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

The crew was on assignment for Powerboat Magazine when the crash occurred at about 10 a.m.

Watters, who had 20 years of experience as a military helicopter pilot, was "one of the few pilots in the country capable of high speed-low altitude flying for racing photography," according to the Corona Police Department in California, where he was a member of the air support unit.

Whether flying too low caused the accident will likely be a focus for investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, who arrived Tuesday night from Miami to take over the investigation. The investigators plan to release a preliminary report in four to five days.

The make and model of the helicopter were not released by authorities. The aircraft was not reclaimed from the murky waters in which it was submerged Tuesday. Divers from the Sheriff's Office marked off the area where the aircraft went down and will remove the wreckage today, Lesaltato said.

Dick Hendricks, executive vice president of Ehlert Publishing Group, which produces Powerboat Magazine, said the magazine has done similar photographic shoots four times a year for the past 35 years without incident.

"We haven't thought beyond canceling this one," he said. "We are working with (the NTSB) and the sheriff's department and trying to figure out what happened. Obviously, our thoughts are with the families and we are working with whatever their needs are."

One observer said Tuesday's accident gave off a loud boom that sounded like an approaching thunderstorm.

"I looked out there and saw the red boat," said Keith Warmkessel, who details cars and boats on Casey Key. "The next thing I see is the sheriff's helicopter."

While ambulances and fire engines from a number of agencies zoomed down the length of the barrier island, trying to coordinate with one another, a harrowing rescue was under way in the Gulf.

Boats from the Sarasota Police Department, the Sheriff's Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard rushed to the crash site, while the sheriff's helicopter flew overhead looking for people in the water.

As the helicopter approached, those on board could see people in the water. Deputy John Jernigan strapped on a life vest and jumped into the water to assist with the rescue mission, Lesaltato said.

The victims were rushed by boat to the Crow's Nest restaurant near the south jetty on Venice island around 10:30 a.m.

Both Newby and Copeland died by the time they reached land, Lesaltato said. Watters was airlifted to Bayfront Medical Center.

The boat's driver and a female model were not injured and authorities did not identify them Tuesday. Debris from the helicopter hit the boat, causing some damage.

Gary Robb, an attorney who specializes in helicopter crashes, said the NTSB will closely examine the aircraft after it is pulled from the water, looking for possible mechanical failures. Among those is loss of the main rotor control, engine failure and component part failure.

"The NTSB will also look at the human factors aspect, which means pilot training, pilot performance, whether or not there may have been an error committed by the pilot," said Robb, who is based in Kansas City, Mo. "There are a number of factors which the government will assess."

About 80 to 85 percent of helicopter crashes are related to human factors, and 10 to 12 percent are material failures, said Rhett Flater, executive director of the American Helicopter Society, an industry group.

The sheriff's dive team will help recover the helicopter, which could be a long and tedious mission, said Deputy Kevin Deiter, from special operations.

The water where the helicopter went down is about 20 to 30 feet deep, Deiter said.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 4:59 PM | Permalink

Cruise lines and their passengers spent $17.6 billion in the United States in 2006, and New York and Hawaii were among the fastest growing embarkation points for cruise travelers, according to a study released Wednesday.

Direct spending related to the cruise industry increased 9 percent in 2006 - down slightly from 10 percent growth the year before because of a slower rate of capacity growth and a drop in consumer spending, according to a report from the Cruise Lines International Association and Exton, Pa.-based Business Research and Economic Advisors.

The report showed that 12 million passengers took cruise vacations worldwide in 2006, with U.S. passengers making up 78 percent of those travelers. Seven ships were added last year, and about 30 more are slated to be built by the end of 2011 as cruise lines anticipate there will be enough demand to fill some 80,000 new berths.

Over the past few years, the cruise industry has had to answer questions about safety aboard ships stemming from several incidents, including passengers' bouts with stomach illness, a ship fire and traveler disappearances. It also must deal with the yearly hurricane season and higher fuel costs.

Demand has slowed in the key Caribbean market, but the industry has seen potential for growth in the Europe and Asia markets. Cruise association President Terry Dale noted that industry surveys show only about 17 percent of Americans have taken a cruise, meaning there should be enough demand to meet the increased supply of berths.

"As an industry, we've barely scratched the surface," Dale said. "There's such potential for us to continue to grow."

Florida - home base for Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. - led with nearly 56 percent of all embarkations and the top three cruise ports in 2006. The Port of Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades accounted for more than 4.4 million passenger embarkations, the study showed.

The Port of Galveston in Texas ranked fourth with 617,000 embarkations, an increase of 16 percent from the year before.

New York ranked sixth with 536,000 embarkations in 2006, up 45 percent, with the opening of the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

The port in Honolulu also showed substantial growth, with passenger departures reaching 318,000, a jump of 34 percent.

"We've literally brought cruising to the backyards of millions of Americans," Dale said. "It makes it much more accessible for folks, and as a result, you don't have additional costs to fly.

It just makes the experience that much more affordable."

The success in New York and Hawaii were in contrast to a nearly 77 percent drop in passenger embarkations in New Orleans, whose port was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. About 72,000 cruise passengers began their trip in New Orleans in 2006, down from 308,000 the year before, the report showed.

Other ports that saw a drop in embarkations were Boston, down 22 percent with 62,000, and San Diego, down 23 percent with 180,000.

The study was done by Business Research and Economic Advisors, which gathered and analyzed data for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based cruise association.

By ADRIAN SAINZ, AP

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 10:23 AM | Permalink

A father who lost a daughter in a parasailing accident earlier this month in Pompano has filed a suit against those involved.

In the suit, Dennis White names Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Pompano Beach Water Sports, and boat operator Scott Kipp.

White says his daughters, Crystal and Amber White of Summerfield, Florida, were staying at Wyndham Royal Vista Resort in Pompano Beach when they decided to take advantage of the parasail operation, Pompano Beach Water Sports, offered by the resort.

As the boat head north near Pompano Beach, the winds increased from 15 mph to 25 mph and seas became choppy. When Kipp tried to pull the girls back in, the tow line to their parachute snapped against the force of the wind and sent the girls flying towards the buildings on shore. Both girls crashed into a second story hotel balcony of the Beachcomber Hotel. 15-year old Amber suffered critical neck and head wounds along with internal injuries. She was pronounced brain dead Sunday evening and kept on life support until her organs could be harvested. 17-year old Crystal suffered a head injury along with numerous cuts and bruises. She was released from the hospital several days after the accident.

The suit claims Pompano Beach Water Sports and its employee Scott Kipp were negligent in that they put Crystal and Amber up in a parasail under “extraordinarily dangerous weather conditions” and failed to maintain control of the parasail once it was aloft.

White said in filing this lawsuit, he hopes that those responsible for his daughter's death cannot continue to put the lives of others in danger.

Attorneys Jason and Debi Chalik of Ft. Lauderdale have been retained by the White Family. In addition to representing the White’s in their Broward court case, they will also fight in Tallahassee to regulate the parasailing industry in Florida.

CBS4
jm

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 9:47 AM | Permalink

In late 2006, Florida area coin collector Thomas Francisco hired attorneys Tucker Ronzetti and Chuck Lipcon to file a class action lawsuit relating to the misleading grading service designation First Strikes. In what turns out to have been separate actions, both PCGS and NGC were sued under consumer protection statutes for engaging in this misleading practice. (For the uninitiated, the designation First Strikes has nothing to do with when the coin was struck. The practice of designating coins as First Strikes is an embarrassment to many honest coin dealers, who refuse to handle them.)

The terms of the settlement between NGC and the class represented by Francisco are as follows:
NGC will pay $650,000 into a Settlement Fund, from which Francisco's attorneys will receive fees of 30% ($195,000) and Francisco will receive $7,500. The remaining $447,500 will be donated to the American Numismatic Association (ANA), pending court approval.

NGC agrees to stop using the First Strikes designation for any coin, unless it can be proven that the coins were struck from a new pair of dies.

NGC will provide informational cards, about the same size as its coin holder, free of charge to all dealers it can identify as having NGC First Strikes designated coins for sale. The cards will clearly state what the First Strikes designation really means, and are intended to be included with any First Strike coins which are sold in the future. The cards will also be available free of charge to NGC First Strikes end buyers, and to anybody else who requests one, for at least a two year period.

NGC will undertake, at its own expense, to inform interested parties about the settlement, including mailing (via U.S. Mail) a copy of the Settlement Agreement to its First Strikes customers. This notice requests that they pass the information along to their own customers. NGC will also purchase advertising in coin collecting publications to make collectors aware of the Settlement Agreement, and will make the long version of the Settlement Agreement available on the Web. If NGC's costs for these various forms of announcement exceed $25,000, the extra monies can be taken out of the Settlement Fund.

Parties who wish to remove themselves from this class, protest the settlement, or comment upon it must file by November 13, 2007. The Final Hearing for this matter is scheduled for December 13, 2007. Additional information is available on the FirstStrikesSettlement.com Web site.

First Strikes Lawsuit Background
Shortly after the First Strikes litigation was filed against both major grading services, NGC announced that it was abandoning the First Strikes designation, and would begin using the more honest term Early Releases instead. A couple of months later, word came down that PCGS had quietly settled the First Strikes litigation out of court, in a secret settlement. Rumors swirled around what the terms of the secret settlement might be, with leading theories including such notions as that PCGS would quietly back away from First Strikes at the end of the 2007 coin year, taking the extra time both to fulfill existing contracts and to save face. Less charitable rumors claimed that Francisco and his lawyers had been "bought off" by PCGS. The fact is that nobody involved will disclose the details, and PCGS recently expanded its deceitful First Strikes program to include Proof Presidential Dollars, so the rumors are apparently wrong. Suffice to say that PCGS isn't listening to the collective clamor of the coin collecting community as a whole, instead preferring to pander to a privileged pantheon of pernicious parties.

NGC, on the other hand, voluntarily scrapped the First Strikes designation long before any kind of legal injunction or agreement had required them to do so. Multiple sources, (including the legal filings themselves,) have indicated that the leaders at NGC had never been real thrilled with the whole First Strikes concept, and that NGC only went along with the game as the result of competitive pressure from PCGS. Disclosures which were made as part of the NGC First Strikes lawsuit settlement state that NGC's incremental revenue from the First Strikes program was less than $90,000!

First Strikes Litigation Reveals Interesting Facts
Some interesting details emerged during the various legal maneuvers that were part of this lawsuit. Some interesting claims were made by NGC in the various court filings, some of which seem contradictory:

NGC received approximately $88,950 in additional fees to add the First Strikes designation to their slab inserts.

291,302 Silver Eagles dated 2005 and 2006 were designated as First Strikes (apparently by all grading services; NGC's population report only totals 79,251.)

NGC charged between $2.50 and $5.00 per coin to add the First Strikes designation to a coin.

A bullion coin dealer gave away 96,740 free First Strikes Silver Eagles (apparently designated by multiple grading services) dated 2005 and 2006 as part of a promotion.

The First Strikes designation has been applied to as much as 50% of the production run of some bullion coin issues! (This includes coins certified by all grading services, not just NGC.)

NGC CEO Steven Eichenbaum claims under oath that NGC had never received any complaints that the First Strikes program was confusing to consumers. (This claim is astonishing since I personally complained to NGC personnel on several occasions and have witnessed others do so. In addition, I know of an organized campaign to register complaints about the First Strikes deception with both PCGS and NGC, where dozens of members of an online coins discussion forum agreed to take part. Eichenbaum's claim about this isn't really material to the settlement terms, but it's an interesting bit of dissembling.)

Performing some mathematical computations on the above figures leads to numbers that don't match up. According to NGC's population reports for both Proof and Circulated coins, it has issued the First Strikes designation to 94,916 Silver Eagles, 108,159 Gold Eagles, and 5,215 Platinum Eagles. The total is 208,290 coins that have been given the NGC First Strikes designation. If NGC has only ever "received" $88,950 for granting First Strikes, that means each coin brought 42.7 cents. The reason I emphasize "received" here is because this is the term explicitly used by Eichenbaum, and also used elsewhere in the legal filings. I believe an unqualified "received," even in the legal sense, means just that. This is not a "net earnings" figure, but just what it says, "received." Anyway, it's one more curiosity in a legal proceeding that has been loaded with them. (For the benefit of those who aren't familiar with how grading services handle this designation, it is an add-on service to the standard grading and encapsulation, where the service makes the bulk of its fee. Such add-ons typically cost only a few dollars extra, and are sometimes free. Judging by the above numbers, it seems NGC gave away a lot of free First Strikes designations. Hopefully.) ;)

My Conclusions Regarding the NGC First Strikes Lawsuit
All in all, my investigation into this matter has left me two big impressions. The first is that NGC reluctantly began using the First Strikes designation in the first place, and wasn't really comfortable with it at any point. NGC quickly backed away from First Strikes when the lawsuit was filed, but I honestly believe their claim that they had planned to do so anyway. Had they not, they could have held out until the judge issued the injunction. Although there are some curious claims and interesting mathematics present here, all in all I think NGC was more of a victim than a perpetrator when it's all said and done. After all, it cost them $650,000 plus legal fees, compliance expenses, and internal costs to "receive" that $88,950.

Secondly, it seems that NGC has bought itself some protection. In this class action lawsuit, once the judge finalizes the settlement, anybody who has purchased an NGC First Strikes coin is losing their right to ever sue NGC in the future regarding this designation unless they have explicitly removed themselves from the class. The compensation you are receiving for giving up your rights is the fact that the ANA will get a $447,500 donation. I'm not a lawyer, but I have taken some law classes and I have great "street smarts." It seems to me that NGC might have invested in some future problem avoidance here. By settling this class action suit, NGC is ensuring that all those folks who are stuck with NGC First Strikes coins have all been stripped of their rights to sue NGC over it in the future. Many coin market analysts feel that all of those naive buyers who are sitting on most of the First Strikes coins, (along with a number of other "perceived value" designations,) will rise up and scream once the economy takes a downturn and people need to cash in their coin "investments." The perceived value will evaporate overnight in a flooded market, and in the fine tradition of litigious 21st century America, people will turn to the lawyers. Will this settlement keep NGC safe?

From Susan Headley,
Your Guide to Coins.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 9:34 AM | Permalink

JOHN CRANE, INC. v. WANDA T. JONES, ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF GARLAND F. JONES, JR.
SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA
2007 Va. LEXIS 113
September 14, 2007, Decided

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: In an action arising from a decedent's exposure to asbestos, the Circuit Court of the City of Newport News (Virginia) granted a verdict in favor of the decedent's estate, and entered a reduced damage award against the decedent's employer to conform to the amount sought in the motion for judgment. The employer thus appealed.

OVERVIEW: The employer challenged the trial court's refusal to set aside the jury verdict as excessive, evidentiary rulings regarding the testimony of another employee and two of its expert witnesses, and it asserted that the trial court should have applied Virginia law, rather than general maritime law. The instant court disagreed. First, maritime law applied, as: (1) the decedent's inhalation of asbestos fibers while engaged in the repair and construction of vessels on navigable waters could have disrupted maritime commerce; and (2) during the time the decedent was exposed to asbestos-containing products, the employer marketed gaskets and packing material directly for the marine industry and advertised its products for marine engine and general ship use. Second, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in limiting the testimony by the employer's experts, as it failed to adequately comply with Va. Sup. Ct. R. 4:1(b)(4)(A)(i). Finally, based on the instruction on damages and the evidence presented at trial, the verdict was not excessive or so out of proportion to the injuries suffered to suggest that it was not the product of a fair and impartial decision.

OUTCOME: The judgment was affirmed.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 1:11 PM | Permalink

Donald Lee Hiltbruner, Respondent, v. Crowley Marine Services, Inc., Appellant.
COURT OF APPEALS OF WASHINGTON, DIVISION ONE
2007 Wash. App. LEXIS 2602
September 10, 2007, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant, claimant, sued respondent, barge owner, for negligence under the Jones Act and claimed the barge was unseaworthy. The parties stipulated to damages of $300,000 and tried the issue of liability. At the close of the claimant's case, the owner moved for directed verdict (a judgment as a matter of law). The Washington trial court entered its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment against the owner. The owner appealed.

OVERVIEW: The claimant was working on a barge. The barge had a metal plate called a spill rail, which prevented oil on the deck from spilling into the water. Triangular metal angle irons at regular intervals along the water side of the spill rail served to reinforce it along the length of the rail. The owner painted trip hazards with white paint, and the owner had never painted angle irons along the spill rail white. When the claimant hopped toward the barge deck, his momentum carried him into a shadowed area. As his foot landed in that area, it struck an angle iron, injuring his knee. The appellate court ruled that the trial court correctly determined the duty owed by the owner to the claimant, and did not error in implicitly denying the motion for judgment as a matter of law. The owner had a duty to provide the claimant with a safe place to work, the angle irons posed a reasonably foreseeable danger, and the finder of fact could find that it was unreasonable to leave the angle irons painted the same color as the deck. Also, the trial court did not err in concluding that the owner's failure to paint the angle irons white made the barge unseaworthy.

OUTCOME: The judgment was affirmed.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 1:11 PM | Permalink

Frank T. Caraska, Appellant, v. The Department of Transportation, Respondent.
COURT OF APPEALS OF WASHINGTON, DIVISION ONE
2007 Wash. App. LEXIS 2567
September 4, 2007, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant seaman filed a personal injury complaint against respondent Washington Department of Transportation Division of Washington State Ferries (WSF). A Washington trial court ruled that the seaman did not prove negligence under the Jones Act or unseaworthiness and dismissed the seaman's lawsuit. The seaman appealed the dismissal.

OVERVIEW: The seaman was working aboard a passenger ferry when he was attacked and seriously injured by an intoxicated passenger. The instant court concluded that the trial court erred in narrowly construing the WSF's duty to protect its crew members from an intoxicated passenger and ignoring evidence supporting the seaman's Jones Act negligence and unseaworthiness claims. The WSF owed the seaman a duty to provide a safe place to work and had adopted a safety management system (SMS) policy addressing intoxicated and disorderly passengers to ensure the safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew. The trial court ignored language in the WSF's SMS policy requiring ferry employees to contact the police and the ferry captain if an intoxicated passenger was disorderly, disruptive, or confrontational. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law, the trial court repeatedly focused only on whether the intoxicated passenger was acting in a threatening or aggressive manner. The trial court also erred in disregarding evidence at trial about whether the passenger was disorderly, disruptive, or confrontational.

OUTCOME: The trial court's decision to dismiss the seaman's Jones Act and unseaworthiness claims was reversed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 1:10 PM | Permalink

JAN KOPACZ; CATHY KOPACZ v. DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY AUTHORITY; CRAIG SWETT, JAN KOPACZ v. DELAWARE RIVER AND BAY AUTHORITY, Jan D. Kopacz and Cathy Kopacz, Appellants.
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 21854
September 12, 2007, Opinion Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant worker appealed from the order of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware which granted partial summary judgment in favor of appellee river and bay authority on the worker's claims seeking damages for an injury that he alleged occurred when he was struck by a car while working aboard an authority ferry.

OVERVIEW: The worker argued that the district court erred, inter alia, in granting the authority's motion for judgment as a matter of law as to compensatory damages, and denying attorney's fees and costs and prejudgment interest. The record showed that the authority did not believe that the car accident that formed the basis for the worker's claim occurred. There were no witnesses to the alleged accident besides the worker. The jury in fact found that the worker had not been struck and injured by the car. Thus, no reasonable jury could have found that the authority unreasonably withheld maintenance and cure and the jury's verdict was supported by the evidence. In light of the appellate court's finding that the authority did not act unreasonably in denying maintenance and cure, it affirmed the denial of attorneys' fees and costs. Finally, the record showed the worker was paid sick and annual leave for all but just over a month of the period when he was found to be due maintenance and cure. Following trial, he was awarded maintenance, sick and annual leave, and medical expenses. On this record, awarding the worker prejudgment interest would have been punitive rather than compensatory.

OUTCOME: The appellate court affirmed the judgment of the district court.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 1:09 PM | Permalink

TERRY LEJEUNE, Plaintiff-Appellee v. TRANSOCEAN OFFSHORE DEEPWATER DRILLING INC, Defendant-Appellant
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 22205
September 17, 2007, Filed

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant employer sought review of a judgment from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, which entered a judgment of $ 1,800,000 in damages and maintenance and cure in favor of appellee seaman in his suit, brought pursuant to the Jones Act and general maritime law, to recover damages for an injury he suffered while working as a crew member on the employer's drilling vessel.

OVERVIEW: A valve fell on the seaman's foot, crushing his metatarsal bone and peroneal nerve, causing soft tissue injuries, and causing the seaman to suffer Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. On appeal, the court held that (1) the district court erred in admitting into evidence its own extrajudicial observations about the seaman's significant pain, but the error was harmless because the district court's decision was based on evidence that was properly admitted; (2) the general damages award of $ 750,000 was excessive under the maximum recovery rule because it was more than 133% of the highest recovery received in Louisiana for a similar injury; (3) the award of $ 744,108 for lost future wages had to be reversed because there was insufficient evidence to support the district court's conclusion that the seaman would eventually be able to return only to part-time work, as such conclusion was based only on the seaman's testimony that he could not sit or stand for very long; and (4) the district court did not err in requiring the employer to pay maintenance and cure for an uncertain period of time because it was not known when the seaman would reach maximum medical improvement.

OUTCOME: The court ordered a remittitur of the general damages award to $ 400,000. The court reversed the award for future lost wages and remanded the matter for recalculation. The court reversed the future damages award as it pertained to costs for doctor visits and remanded the matter for recalculation. Finally, the court affirmed the future cure obligation.

Posted by Lipcon Law Firm at 1:08 PM | Permalink