DIVELAW Attorney Scores $3 Million Judgement for Injured PADI Instructor

[limbo]

Rick Lesser announces another important legal victory involving the dive industry.


Less than two years after receiving an award for one of the Top Defense Verdicts in the Country from the National Law Journal , Attorney Rick Lesser has been involved in another multimillion dollar dive case- this time as the lawyer for a PADI instructor critically injured in a dive accident in Hawaii.

While leading his DSD group in the waters off Kauai, Instructor Matthew Isham and one of his students were run over by a large sailing catamaran, resulting in the loss of Isham's leg above the knee and rendering the student's dominant arm permanently disabled. Photos taken at the time of the incident showed the captain of Isham's vessel had failed to raise any dive flag, and it was also determined later that the company did not even own the large Alpha flag required by Coast Guard regulations to be displayed during diving operations.

The judgement entered for Isham of $2,975,000 is believed to be the largest single award to a dive instructor in any published case in the country.

Additional details may be found in an article on dive boat insurance appearing in this month's Dive Center Business magazine, and will also be posted shortly on Lesser's www.divelaw.com website.

As found here http://www.divenewswire.com/NewsITems.aspx?newsID=7997

Anyone knows more about this case? AFAIK this came to conclusion in June this year.

 

[Felon_Monk]

good for him.. but thats sad that he had to earn the money that way.

 

[Scububbs]

I'm glad he got something out of this tragedy, but if his dive shop/company didn't even own the correct dive flag you have to wonder how often he took a group into the water knowing that a flag wasn't flying.

 

[Notso_Ken]

Rick Lesser announces another important legal victory involving the dive industry.


Less than two years after receiving an award for one of the Top Defense Verdicts in the Country from the National Law Journal , Attorney Rick Lesser has been involved in another multimillion dollar dive case- this time as the lawyer for a PADI instructor critically injured in a dive accident in Hawaii.

While leading his DSD group in the waters off Kauai, Instructor Matthew Isham and one of his students were run over by a large sailing catamaran, resulting in the loss of Isham's leg above the knee and rendering the student's dominant arm permanently disabled. Photos taken at the time of the incident showed the captain of Isham's vessel had failed to raise any dive flag, and it was also determined later that the company did not even own the large Alpha flag required by Coast Guard regulations to be displayed during diving operations.

The judgement entered for Isham of $2,975,000 is believed to be the largest single award to a dive instructor in any published case in the country.

Additional details may be found in an article on dive boat insurance appearing in this month's Dive Center Business magazine, and will also be posted shortly on Lesser's www.divelaw.com website.

As found here http://www.divenewswire.com/NewsITems.aspx?newsID=7997

Anyone knows more about this case? AFAIK this came to conclusion in June this year.

So, who was the judgement rendered against?

The owner of the boat that did not have the required dive flag?

Or the owner of tha catamaran, who was not aware there were divers in the water due to the lack of the required dive flag?

Ken

 

[gangrel441]

What bugs me about this is that it seems to me the instructor should have some responsibility for ensuring that the dive flag is flown. While I wouldn't say it is his responsibility to have a dive flag, I would certainly say that not having a flag on the boat would make conditions unsafe for diving, and therefore the instructor should have thumbed the dive before it ever started. Just my $0.02...

 

[Sam Miller III]

"A flag of red & white (or -blue and white) is not asurance that you will not be involved in an accident but if you are in an accident you have a certain amount of insurance that the resultant litigation will be in your favor." a paraphrase quote from first guest editor of Skin Diver Magazine from about 45 years ago, titled "Sign post to saftey."

This case was apparently litigated under maritime law-where liability is expressed in percentages of contributory negligence. The divers were at fault for being in the water, however the boat was at greater fault for running over an object (diver) in the water.

The flags would have certainly not protected the diver, but would have made the case so much stronger and possibly a much greater settlement for the injured parties.

Now expect the injured divers to litigate against the boat owner, for not owning or displaying a flag. Also the dive shop and others my also be involved

The student will possibly seek relief from the instructor and PADI.

Or the case may have ended with the settlement..Time will tell,

SDM

 

[TomP]

Assuming this was an OW class, be looking for a good chunk of that settlement if I was the student.

And since we are indulging tasteless quips, I can't blame the lawyers for bragging - what else would they do, run an add that says
"If you've been injured you need a Lesser Attorney"
That'll really inspire confidence...

 

[milkathecow]

The sad truth is that there are so many ppl out there who have no clue what the alpha flag or the red/white flag means... I was dragged for 20m until I let go of my dive buoy and reel because a Glass-bottom boat hooked it in front of our Dive Center at 40m (120ft) from the shore.

Tender divers when don't respect the 50m distance to the buoy and tell you... i see the bubbles... and pass over us ... when i get out and yell they just tell me to F""" off, Yes i take the ID of the tender/boat and report to police because i'm fed up... but what next... i need a casuality with my divers because people with boats and rec boat drivers don't care or don't know ??

Yes he should have checked for the flag, but well it's too easy to blame the instructor for the flag... that's totally taking the responsability off the person who was partially at fault (true no flag can't really know, except if he knows this is a dive zone or can be a dive site), because he hooked them .

 

[DanBMW]

So why is the boater responsible for hitting divers he can't see and who are not flying the proper flags? There must be much more to this story.

 

[limbo]

So, who was the judgement rendered against?

The owner of the boat that did not have the required dive flag?

Or the owner of tha catamaran, who was not aware there were divers in the water due to the lack of the required dive flag?

Ken

Good point you raise Ken.

Googled teh lawyers name but didn't find any more info on this case.