DIVELAW Attorney Scores $3 Million Judgement for Injured PADI Instructor

[Carribeandiver]

there will be no reference to the case unless it goes to the appellant courts. with a settlement of this size, it is extremely likely the defendant will appeal. However, as is the case in most judgments of significant note, a settlement will be reached and the case will never be recorded in the reference books.
One could, however, look up the lawyer's name to get a history of cases he has taken before the appellant courts. From the article, it appears this was a federal case. Off hand, I am not certain what circuit Hawaii falls in.
As for the liability, no doubt it was the boat with no flag. The catamaran had no way of knowing a diver was down unless there was a flag. Even if the catamaran was held liable, the liability and fault would transfer to the dive boat for not flying a flag.

 

[TomP]

There aren't a lot of facts here and my sense is we aren't going to see any more.

DiveNewsWire is exactly what they say it is - a press release distribution system.

DiveLaw is what it is also - a law firm specializing in Dive related litigation so its natural they would celebrate a sizable settlement/verdict that it obtained for its client.

The press release is about DiveLaw's success and I doubt that they are going to detract from that focus by clouding the issue with facts and having the case retried in the court of Scubaboard opinion.

 

[ams511]

From here: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/Rules/Rule27.htm

Whenever the size of a vessel engaged in diving operations makes it impracticable to exhibit all lights and shapes prescribed in paragraph (d) of this Rule, the following shall be exhibited:

Three all-round lights in a vertical line where they can best be seen. The highest and lowest of these lights shall be red and the middle light shall be white;
a rigid replica of the International Code flag "A" not less than 1 meter in height. Measures shall be taken to ensure its all-round visibility.

Have you ever seen a dive boat with these lights?

 

[ItsBruce]

I'll call Rick and see what more I can learn.

 

[Walter]

Was this the incident with the Discover Diving student?

 

[tc]

Ams511- yes, I have seen a couple of charter boats out here in California that have that light setup. They normally use them for night diving ops, don't recall if they have them on during the day.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

The Pacific Star had those lights when it was based in Monterey. The lights were big
(1 pound coffee can sized). I've spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how
to build a set appropriate for my Boston Whaler.

The alpha flag is displayed during the day, the lights at night.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

DiveLaw is what it is also - a law firm specializing in Dive related litigation so its natural they would celebrate a sizable settlement/verdict that it obtained for its client.

Naturally. It was a nice financial victory for the attorney and law firm involved.

 

[fishnchips]

I thought as an instructor, he was supposed to know he should raise the dive flag or dive flag buay?

 

[kchFLA]

Just to clarify some terms being used here -

Settlement - dollars that are agreed to by the parties and reached outside of court.

Judgment - dollars that are awarded after the case has been tried.

Reports of the lowest level cases are generally not reported by organizations like Westlaw. However, there are reported that report the lowest level cases but since they generally are not precident they have little use outside the state that the trial took place.

As stated earlier, if the case goes up on appeal then the case will be more widely reported.