Hfoster:
I agree to one part of your post and that is get the advice from an attorney.
Now I don't agree with your perception of a Maritime Attorney. They don't just deal with issues covered under "Maritime Laws" but various issues regarding boats and boat ownership, captains and crew. Many are experienced representing both boat owners and captains in a variety of issues.
I spoke to my attorney who was also the one who found us our maritime attorney initially and her stance was that she would immediately refer this to him if it were brought to her. Where there were state specific issues the maritime attorney might come back to her for aid. But a good maritime attorney is more knowledgeable in the responsibilities and reasonable expectations for captain and crew as well as some of the jurisdictional issues involving boats in transit. Also more knowledgeable regarding where to get expert witnesses. Certainly part of this does hinge on the nature of the attorney's practice as with any attorney. But this would be well within the realm of our maritime attorney and his firm's practice.
This is really not an unusual situation. Contracted captain or crew fails to perform to expectation of owner then question of liability and nature of failing to perform.
Maritime attorneys do not just deal with "Maritime Law" but they deal with the entire industry. They deal with disputes with shipyards, crew, freight companies (such as shipping of boats by sea), insurance disputes and much more.
Think of maritime attorneys as industry experts rather than simply dealing in maritime law and expertise in the industry would be helpful in this situation especially due to the brevity of the actual contract. That's where industry standards and expectations come very much into play. That's really what the case is, what is a reasonable expectation of a captain in this specific situation. Emailed my maritime attorney's assistant and asked how many cases of this type do they get a year. Answer was 10 or so involving the exact same issues.
I agree to one part of your post and that is get the advice from an attorney.
Now I don't agree with your perception of a Maritime Attorney. They don't just deal with issues covered under "Maritime Laws" but various issues regarding boats and boat ownership, captains and crew. Many are experienced representing both boat owners and captains in a variety of issues.
I spoke to my attorney who was also the one who found us our maritime attorney initially and her stance was that she would immediately refer this to him if it were brought to her. Where there were state specific issues the maritime attorney might come back to her for aid. But a good maritime attorney is more knowledgeable in the responsibilities and reasonable expectations for captain and crew as well as some of the jurisdictional issues involving boats in transit. Also more knowledgeable regarding where to get expert witnesses. Certainly part of this does hinge on the nature of the attorney's practice as with any attorney. But this would be well within the realm of our maritime attorney and his firm's practice.
This is really not an unusual situation. Contracted captain or crew fails to perform to expectation of owner then question of liability and nature of failing to perform.
Maritime attorneys do not just deal with "Maritime Law" but they deal with the entire industry. They deal with disputes with shipyards, crew, freight companies (such as shipping of boats by sea), insurance disputes and much more.
Think of maritime attorneys as industry experts rather than simply dealing in maritime law and expertise in the industry would be helpful in this situation especially due to the brevity of the actual contract. That's where industry standards and expectations come very much into play. That's really what the case is, what is a reasonable expectation of a captain in this specific situation. Emailed my maritime attorney's assistant and asked how many cases of this type do they get a year. Answer was 10 or so involving the exact same issues.