I knew there was a f*cking lawyer out there... said nothing with
a lot of words. (Calm down Dave, I'm just kidding)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
news
On 20 Apr 2004 18:54:38 -0700, (Dave) said:

Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

First off, remember that a law suit will be mainly your insurance
carrier's
problem in the first instance. One of the reasons you buy a policy is not
just to pay any liabilities, but to defend you if you're sued. If you're
sued, be sure to notify the insurance company immediately. They may or may
not allow you to use an attorney of your choice to defend.

Second, for $5,000 it's not likely to be brought as an admiralty case.
More
likely a straight state law case for negligence. The issue will be whether
you used reasonable care to secure your vessel so it wouldn't damage other
vessels. I can see a pretty good argument that if a gale is expected,
reasonable care would require you to put on some additional lines, and if
you didn't you (your insurance carrier) may be responsible for the damage.
But again, that's a matter to be dealt with in the first instance by your
insurance carrier and its lawyers.


Dave
S/V Good Fortune
CS27

Who goes duck hunting with Jamie Gorelick?