Rescue or ???

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I believe the US' broken legal system has broken the American people's will and hearts. Watching this might help you understand why our American fellow divers here lose their minds and grow extreme paranoia over possible, however improbable, lawsuits.


However, while scared by the financial burden their legal system hovers over their heads, they forgot wrongful death lawsuits are not defamation lawsuits. They are not simply looked at on a case by case basis. You can easily use precedences to get the suit dismissed immediately. Which means if other divers have been unsuccessfully sued for the same things, then nobody will bother looking at this one. It takes ten minutes in front of a judge and maybe a few days researching previous cases with the entire ScubaBoard. You can do it yourself or spend a small amount for any of us to do it for you. Heck, many here would do it for free!
 
I got "video unavailable".
 
No, same thing. Maybe not good in Canada?
 
No, same thing. Maybe not good in Canada?
Hm could be a copyright thing. Using vpn or an IP proxy plug in for your browser might help.

It's John Oliver's episode on SLAPP suit. Basically it's what KWS is talking about, how anyone can sue anyone for anything and even if you did nothing wrong, it can still bankrupt you and cause tons of trouble. The reasons cited are:
1. The US doesn't have federal laws against this type of suits, it's up to states,
2. Not all states have anti slapp laws,
3. The US doesn't require the plaintiff to pay all legal expenses if they suits fail.

And number 3 is relevant to us: because the family of a diving casualty can freely sue anyone related, hoping to get any amount of compensation from any party. They don't have to worry about paying court fees or defendants legal fees. In Europe and other countries, if you sue someone unsuccessfully, the judge might or might not order you to take care of all fees involved.

But even in the US, no 1 and 2 don't really apply. It is because the US legal system functions based on precedences. If there is a precedent of another diver, rescue certified or otherwise, winning a similar complain from any plaintiff, then the judge can use the decision of that case for all similar subsequent cases without putting the new cases on trials.
 
Hm could be a copyright thing. Using vpn or an IP proxy plug in for your browser might help.

It's John Oliver's episode on SLAPP suit. Basically it's what KWS is talking about, how anyone can sue anyone for anything and even if you did nothing wrong, it can still bankrupt you and cause tons of trouble. The reasons cited are:
1. The US doesn't have federal laws against this type of suits, it's up to states,
2. Not all states have anti slapp laws,
3. The US doesn't require the plaintiff to pay all legal expenses if they suits fail.

And number 3 is relevant to us: because the family of a diving casualty can freely sue anyone related, hoping to get any amount of compensation from any party. They don't have to worry about paying court fees or defendants legal fees. In Europe and other countries, if you sue someone unsuccessfully, the judge might or might not order you to take care of all fees involved.

But even in the US, no 1 and 2 don't really apply. It is because the US legal system functions based on precedences. If there is a precedent of another diver, rescue certified or otherwise, winning a similar complain from any plaintiff, then the judge can use the decision of that case for all similar subsequent cases without putting the new cases on trials.
Thanks. These are things I was not aware of.
Haven't given lawsuits any thought at all recently as 98% of my dives are solo. I gave it a little thought when I was an active DM and diving when not working (like on vacation on a charter).
If you are involved in an accident while on vacation I don't know how the DM insurance fits into that, if at all.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom