On November 15, 2021, Federal District Judge Kenneth A. Marra remanded an injured maritime crewmember’s case from the Southern District of Florida back to Florida’s Fifteenth Judicial Circuit court, granting Zan Lang’s motion to remand his Jones Act negligence claims.  Maritime Attorney Thomas Graham at Leesfield Scolaro has the honor of representing the injured seaman in the case styled Zan Lang v. Allen Exploration and 6161 LLC, Case No.: 21-81813-CIV-MARRA.  The Jones Act case was originally filed in Florida State Court in West Palm Beach.  Shortly thereafter, the Defendants ..read more

Ilija Loncar, a crewmember on a cruise ship, was feeling ill and reported to the ship’s doctor mid-voyage. Already feeling nauseous, Ilija threw up in front of the nurse. In response, the ship’s doctor ordered the maximum allowable dose of 25 mg Promethazine by intraveinous injection instead of the manufacturer recommended deep Intramuscular route. Promethazine hydrochloride is a highly toxic caustic drug – The FDA requires the drug’s manufacturer to include a “black box” on the drug’s labels to warn medical providers about the risk of severe tissue damage if the drug is not administered corre ..read more

Pitfalls for Passengers (post-COVID and otherwise): Disney Cruise Lines re-opens June 26 with all major cruise lines to follow. Beware of injuries on Inaugural  cruises. . . the cruise industry is re opening with a fury. There is no certainty on how they will handle COVID, or how well their reinstated crew is trained. Remember, even before COVID,  numerous cases of Norovirus  were reported annually as ships came to port. So, Sanitation and safety issues must be paramount along with crowd control and CDC compliance. Will your co-passengers be vaccinated?   Are you willing to ..read more

Pitfalls for Passengers: Disney Cruise Lines re-opens June 26 with all major cruise lines to follow. Beware of injuries on Inaugural cruises. . . The cruise industry is re-opening with a fury. There is no certainty on how they will handle COVID, or how well their reinstated crew is trained. Remember, even before COVID, numerous cases of Norovirus were reported annually as ships came to port. So, Sanitation and safety issues must be paramount along with crowd control and CDC compliance.  Will your co-passengers be vaccinated?  Are you willing to spend days or weeks with those likely t ..read more

COVID-19 brought more boaters and more watersports enthusiasts into close proximity, making waterways more congested.  Cruise lines are now experimenting with post pandemic precautions.  Americans and international travelers are ready to put coronavirus in the rear-view mirror, but many pre-existing water related hazards will be amplified by over enthusiasm on the water. Is it safe to get back in the water? Recently and over the past 40 years, our firm has been asked to investigate a significant number of cases involving collisions between watercraft in the bay, ocean and waterways ..read more

Millions around the globe are eagerly awaiting a green light to resume cruising once again.  The decision to restart cruise operations carries with it an obligation on behalf of the cruise lines to ensure the safety of the passengers, crew, and residents of the various ports forming the infrastructure of the cruise industry.  Cruise enthusiasts should carefully consider the decision to book their next cruise vacation, including locations and precautions. The cruise line industry has been on “pause” since the pandemic arrived in March 2020.  Now, the situation is fluid and unpred ..read more

NBC recently featured attorneys Thomas Scolaro and Adam Rose for their latest lawsuit against Royal Caribbean on behalf of Phoebe Moon and her parents.  The nine-month-old Phoebe Moon was amputated as a result of Royal Caribbean’s doctors’ negligence who missed clear signs of meningococcocal meningitis infection.  After sending the parents back to their cabin five times without affording any care to their baby, the doctors reluctantly allowed the family to go off-shore for a medical consult.  The local emergency doctors diagnosed Phoebe with meningitis at first glance and they w ..read more

The cruising industry has more than doubled in the last two decades. In the last 15 years alone, the number of cruise passengers has increased from 15 million to 30+ million. To satisfy the demand, cruise lines have built increasingly large ships that can host over 5,500 passengers and over 2,300 crew-members. Consequently, the number of injuries sustained by passengers and crew-members has also increased.  As a result, Leesfield Scolaro’s general maritime attorneys have been retained to represent injured passengers and crew-members for the last 20 years. If you are an adult, how long do ..read more

Miami attorneys Ira H. Leesfield and Thomas Scolaro represent the family of Phoebe Moon who at 9-months old lost both her feet and half of her fingers due to the indefensible medical negligence of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) ship board physicians. Phoebe is now a triple amputee forced to live her life with unimaginable handicaps, limitations and mental trauma reserved for the most damaged in society. A complaint was filed today against the Miami-headquartered cruise line on behalf of Phoebe and her parents, Aime and Luke Moon, whose nightmare began on the Symphony of the Seas on Februa ..read more

Attorney Thomas Scolaro was recently featured in an exclusive interview on LawDragon.com.  Notably Mr. Scolaro addresses results past and present, including the successful litigation against a furniture manufacturer and the hurdles in forcing the industry to change inadequate industry standards to prevent toddlers from sustaining fatal injuries: LawDragon: Can you describe a recent matter that you’ve handled? Thomas Scolaro: A two-year-old boy was killed when he tried to climb up his dresser to reach the baby-cam. As he pulled out the drawers to climb to the top, the center of gravity sh ..read more