el faro litigation: who filed it? what claims did they make? was it dismissed or removed?
phillips, hunt & walker el faro litigation: who filed it? what claims did they make? was it dismissed or removed?
We said early on that cases such as the victims of the El Faro tragedy should be handled by experienced maritime and admiralty lawyers. We’ve already seen El Faro’s lawyers step in and quietly undo much of what the victim’s lawyers have done. Here is a summary.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE I – LONNIE JORDAN
Style of Case? Joanna Johnson, as Personal Representative of Lonnie Jordan v. Tote Services, Inc., d.b.a Tote Maritime Puerto Rico and Michael Davidson, Ship Captain.
Lawyer? Willie Gary or Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson and Gary of Stuart, Florida.
Where Filed? Duval County Circuit Court; State Court.
When Filed? 10/14/15 at 2:08 PM.
Claims? (1) Negligence – Wronful (SIC- Wrongful) Death Against Tote Srvices (SIC- Srvices) ; (2) Negligence – Wronful (SIC- Wrongful) Death Against Tote Maritime Puerto Rico; (3) Negligence – Wronful (SIC- Wrongful) Death Against Michael Davidson.
Dismissed/Removed to Federal Court? Yes. Tote has removed it to Federal Court.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Lonnie Jordan Complaint.
VIEW REMOVAL HERE- Lonnie Jordan Removal.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE II – CAREY HATCH
Style of Case? Tracey Hatch, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Carey Hatch v. Sea Star Line d/b/a “Tote Maritime” and also d/b/a “Tote Maritime Puerto Rico” and Tote Services, Inc.
Lawyer? Stephen Pajcic of Pajcic and Pajcic, Jacksonville, Florida.
Where Filed? Duval County Circuit Court; State Court.
When Filed? 10/19/15 at 10:30 AM.
Claims? (1) Survival Action for Negligence for Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Under the Jones Act Against Tote Services, Inc. (2) Negligence Causing Wrongful Death Under the Jones Act Against Tote Services, Inc. (3) Claim for Wrongful Death Under the Death on the High Seas Act Against Star Line, LLC d/b/a Tote Maritime and Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.
Dismissed/Removed to Federal Court? Not yet noted on state court docket.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Hatch Complaint.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE III – JEFFREY MATHIAS
Style of Case? Jennifer Mathias, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Jeffrey Mathias v. Sea Star Line d/b/a Tote Maritime and also d/b/a Tote Maritime Puerto Rico and Tote Services, Inc.
Lawyer? Allen von Spiegelfeld, Banker Lopez Gassler, Tampa, Florida.
Where Filed? Duval County Circuit Court; State Court.
When Filed? 10/30/15 at 2:42 PM.
Claims? (1) Jones Act Negligence. (2) Jones Act Survival Action. (3) Unseaworthiness.
Dismissed/Removed to Federal Court? Not yet noted on state court docket.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Mathias Complaint.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE IV – JEREMIE RIEHM
Style of Case? Tina Riehm, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Jeremie Riehm v. Sea Star Line d/b/a “Tote Maritime” and also d/b/a “Tote Maritime Puerto Rico” and Tote Services, Inc.
Lawyer? Stephen Pajcic of Pajcic and Pajcic, Jacksonville, Florida.
Where Filed? Duval County Circuit Court; State Court.
When Filed? 11/2/2015 at 11:11 AM
Claims? (1) Survival Action for Negligence for Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Under the Jones Act Against Tote Services, Inc. (2) Negligence Causing Wrongful Death Under the Jones Act Against Tote Services, Inc. (3) Claim for Wrongful Death Under the Death on the High Seas Act Against Star Line, LLC d/b/a Tote Maritime and Tote Maritime Puerto Rico.
Dismissed/Removed to Federal Court? Yes. Tote has removed it to Federal Court.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Riehm Complaint.
VIEW REMOVAL HERE- Riehm Removal.
phillips, hunt & walker CASES V – IX – PIOTR KRAUSE, MARCIN NITA, JAN PODGORSKI, ANDRZEJ TRUSZKOWSKI, RAFAL ZDOBYCH (All Residents of Poland, Filed Together)
Style Of Case? Anna Krause, as Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Piort Krause, Deceased; Agnieszka Nita, as Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Marcin Nita, Deceased; Malgorzata Podgorska, as Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Jan Podgorski, Deceased; Bozena Truszkowska, as Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Andrzej Truszkowski, Deceased; and Agnieszka Zdobych, as Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Rafal Zdobych, Deceased versus. Intec Maritime Offshore Service Corp.; Ship Or Land Operations Agency, Inc.; and Michael Davidson and/or The Estate of Michael Davidson.
Lawyer? Jason R. Margulies And Michael A. Winkleman Of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, P.A., Miami, Florida.
Where Filed? United States District Court Middle District Of Florida
When Filed? 11/2/2015.
Claims? (1) Survival Action For Negligence For Pre-Death Pain And Suffering Under The Jones Act Against Tote and/or Sea Star and/or Intec and/or Ship Or Land. (2) Unseaworthiness Against Tote and/or Sea Star. (3) Death On The High Seas Act Against Tote and/or Sea Star and/or Intec and/or Ship Or Land. (4) Negligence Against Davidson.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Answer and Counterclaim.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE X – JACKIE JONES, JR.
Style of Case? Addreisha Shirliea Jones, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Jackie Jones, Jr., v. Sea Star Line, LLC., Tote Services & Michael Davidson.
Lawyer? Elazabeth Kaga of the Kagan Law Firm, Ft. Myers, Florida and affiliated maritime counsel Scott Wagner, Moore & Company of Coral Gables, Florida.
Where Filed? United States District Court Middle District Of Florida.
When Filed? October 22, 2015, at 3:42 PM.
Claims? (1) Survival Action for Negligence for Pre-Death Pain and Suffering under the Jones Act against Tote and/or Sea Star. (2) Unseaworthiness under General Maritime Law Act against Tote and/or Sea Star. (3) Claim for Wrongful Death Under DOHSA against all Defendants. (4) Negligence causing Wrongful Death under the Jones Act Act against Tote and/or Sea Star. (5) Negligence against Davidson.
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Addreisha Shirlea Jones v Sea Star Line.
phillips, hunt & walker CASE XI – ANTHONY ‘SHAWN’ THOMAS
Style of Case? Tinisha Renee Thomas, individually, as Personal Representative, and on behalf of the Estate of Anthony Shawn Thomas v. Sea Star Line, LLC d/b/a Tote Maritime and Tote Maritime Puerto Rico, Tote, Inc., Tote Services, Inc., INTEC Maritime Offshore Services Corp and Ship or Land Operations Agency.
Lawyer? Michael Hamaway of Momback, Boyle, Hardin & Simmons, Fort Lauderdale, Florida is local counsel. They are affiliating Kurt Arnold, who is licensed in Texas and and practices in the Houston, Texas firm of Arnold & Itkin.
Where Filed? State Court in Broward County, Florida (17th Judicial Circuit).
When Filed? October 28, 2015, at 5:26 PM.
Claims? (1) Unseaworthiness “against Tote Defendants.” (2) Negligence “against all defendants.”
VIEW COMPLAINT HERE- Anthony Shawn Thomas Complaint.
phillips, hunt & walker DEFENSE PLEADINGS
This is Sea Star Lines’ Verified Complaint to Limit Damages- El Faro Verified Complaint.
Here is there they seek to limit all damages to $13,236,300.00- Limitation Provision Filing.
phillips, hunt & walker SICK HUMOR?
HANDWRITTEN COMPLAINT BY “TOM HANK GILLIGAN”
Tom Hank Gilligan (who falsely claims to be an inmate in NJ) filed a handwritten Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Federal Court, demanding $100,000,000 for the victims.
However, the rather Crazy complaint goes on to make allegations such as that the El Faro “hit an iceberg near where the titanic sunk and it was patched up with Elmers glue for cost saving measures.” It also alleges the “captain of the El Faro was drunk on Captain Morgan and knew the dangers of the mysterious Bermuda triangle but went anyway because he was obsessed with Daryl Hannah from (the movie) Splash.”
Read more about that here- https://floridajustice.com/a-guy-named-gilligan-filed-a-lawsuit-in-the-el-faro-litigation-and-it-is-a-doozy/.