Grossman Attorneys at Law, a U.S. Admiralty & Maritime Law Firm, Encourages Passage of the "Security Protections on Liability Act' (SPILL Act) to Protect American Families and not Ration Justice
George Washington, who commanded our troops in the Revolutionary War against the British, once said: "the due administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government". What would he say about rationing of justice in favor of BP?

BOCA RATON, FL, June 29, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- George Washington, who commanded our troops in the Revolutionary War against the British, and the Father of our Country, once said: "the due administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government". Maritime Attorney, Tim Nies, a former U.S. Army Ranger and a disabled American Veteran, wonders what General George Washington would say about the current set of U.S. maritime laws, which limits liability in favor of a rich and powerful British company, BP, against hardworking Americans and our environment? Attorney Tim Nies is sure that he would be concerned.

Grossman Attorneys at Law, the authors of admiraltyandmaritime.com, encourages support of the "Securing Protections from Limitations on Liability Act" (SPILL Act), a comprehensive bill introduced by John Conyers, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, and Congressman Charlie Melancon. The bill addresses legal liability issues relating to the Gulf oil spill caused by BP, including a comprehensive reform of the Death on the High Seas Act together with the Limitation on Liability Act (LOLA) and the Jones Act.

According to senior maritime attorney and Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Emeritus Specialist, Howard Grossman, "the Death on the High Seas Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1920 governs the recovery of damages against the owner of a ship in wrongful or accidental death cases caused by the carelessness or recklessness or a vessel deemed unseaworthy". For information about Act, please see the firm's DOHSA web page.

The Death on the High Seas Act, in its current outdated form, governs the claims of the survivors of those killed on a ship or oil rig more than three miles from the coast, such as BP's Deepwater Horizon, and passengers on cruise ships, may not be compensated for the care, comfort and companionship of their loved one. If an American seamen or a passenger killed due to the recklessness of the ship owner or operator is without a dependent, essentially the only damage that may be recovered, and by a personal representative of the estate only, is the conscious pre-death pain and suffering suffered by the worker or passenger.

The Jones Act, also passed way back in 1920, allows injured seamen to recover damages for the negligence of the vessel owner, captain, or fellow crew. This law limits damages to pecuniary damages only. The SPILL Act would amend the Jones Act, so that the anguished families of killed seamen would be able to recover non-pecuniary damages.

The overall effect of the proposed SPILL Act would be to amend DOHSA and the Jones Act and repeal the Limitation on Liability Act, so that families seamen, as well as passengers under DOHSA, who have died due to the fault of the ship or vessel can receive some compensation for the care, comfort, and companionship that they have lost.

Due to the Death on the High Seas Act, an archaic law, survivors of the victims of the BP oil spill may never receive fair compensation for the loss of their husbands. The SPILL Act would stop companies like BP from escaping responsibility for their negligent and careless acts.

When the Deepwater Horizon exploded, 11 workers, with families and loved ones dependent on them to survive, died a horrible death alone at sea. The death of these workers, who are often separated from their families for months at a time, falls under the Death on the High Seas Act. These families, due to DOHSA, are not being fairly compensated. Back in 1920, when DOHSA was passed it made sure that families of seamen who died at sea received some compensation from large shipping companies. Before DOHSA, these families received absolutely nothing. One of the workers employed on the BP oil rig who was killed because of the negligence of BP was unmarried and without children. His family, who is suffering as this article is written, will receive a payment to cover funeral expenses only. This is not justice. This is not what America stands for. This is nothing more than an attempt to ration justice, Attorney Tim Nies says.

The cruise lines, many of which fly foreign flags of convenience and incorporate in foreign countries to avoid paying hundreds of millions in U.S. taxes every year, but who have principal places of business in Miami, Florida, have been lobbying intensively to limit liability for injuries and deaths on their ships caused by their own recklessness for years and they have been successful. According to senior Maritime Attorney, Howard Grossman, "In nearly every cruise ship negligence case we litigate on behalf of U.S. seamen and their families, the cruise lines attempt to force the cruise ship workers, Americans, to arbitrate their claims in countries like the Philippines or Panama, knowing full well the financial difficulties a low-income seaman will face in trying to arbitrate their claim thousands of miles away before a single foreign arbitrator who knows very little, if any, about the application of U.S. law, namely the Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act". These careless cruise lines do it intentionally to shirk responsibility for causing the injury or death of their crew member. Limitations placed on the compensation for injures and death caused by these negligent oil companies, cruise lines and shipping companies is not justice. This is not the American way. In the United States of America, companies pay for the harms and losses they cause.

The SPILL Act will:

- Amend the Death on the High Seas Act to allow recovery of non-pecuniary damages (such as loss of care, comfort and companionship, mental anguish, disability and pain and suffering) by the family of the seamen or passenger killed due to the carelessness of the ship or vessel owner, as well as standardizing the geographic threshold for its application, and permitting surviving family members to bring suit directly rather than through a personal representative.

- Amend the Jones Act to permit recovery of non-pecuniary damages by the families of U.S. seamen who are killed at sea.

- Repeal the antiquated Limitation on Liability Act, which dates back to 1851, which unfairly limits the liability of vessel or ship owners to the value of the boat or ship.

- Make clear the class action rules so that impacted U.S. States can seek effective legal remedies in their own courts.

- Render unenforceable restrictions on disclosing information about offshore spills of oil and other pollutants.

- Make stronger bankruptcy rules to prevent corporations responsible for widespread damages under the Oil Pollution Act from seeking to sever their assets from the legal liabilities they owe to blameless victims.

- Apply these changes to pending and future legal claims.

Congress should pass the SPILL Act, and also take a look at the legitimacy of arbitration clauses forcing American seamen working for U.S.-based cruise lines which force arbitration in far-off countries. Our government needs to protect Americans injured at sea due to the recklessness of oil companies, shipping companies and cruise lines, and, as firm attorney, Howard Grossman said "not ration justice".

Press Release Contact Information:

Timothy Nies
Grossman Attorneys at Law
Maritime Attorney
1098 NW Boca Raton Boulevard
Boca Raton, FL
USA 33432
Voice: 800-940-8048
Fax: 561-391-1193
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