Miami maritime lawyers Jason R. Margulies and Michael A. Winkleman's latest case against Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. hasn't been filed yet, but it's already made national headlines.

Various conflicting narratives have emerged about what happened, ahead of any discovery or pleadings yet to come.

That could present obstacles for lawyers representing the cruise line and the family of toddler Chloe Wiegand, who fell more than 10 stories to her death from a cruise ship docked in San Juan.

While some early reports claimed the toddler's grandfather accidentally dropped her out of the window, plaintiff's counsel will need to demonstrate the cruise line was negligent. Wiegand's family in Indiana have said the grandfather placed her in front of the window without expecting it to be open, and told the “Today Show” they're experiencing “unfathomable grief.”

Royal Caribbean spokesman Owen Torres said in an emailed statement, “We are deeply saddened by this incident, and our hearts go out to the family. We have assisted the authorities in San Juan with their inquiries, and they are the appropriate people to address further questions.”

Statistically, most civil cases settle, and depending on what facts emerge, this one might be no different. But if it does go to trial, initial reports that the toddler might have been dangled or dropped could have a tainting effect on future jury pools, according to civil trial attorney Deborah J. Gander of Colson Hicks Eidsen in Coral Gables.

“Assuming that that is misinformation, that misinformation becomes the filter through which someone hears everything else,” Gander said. “And even if they don't remember exactly what they heard, they have this sense that, 'Oh, it was the family member's fault, and this person was being incredibly irresponsible and I never would have done that.”

Such speculators need to be weeded out with a thorough voir dire process, said Gander, who in 2018 represented a Royal Caribbean crew member awarded a $20.3 million jury verdict after her hand was crushed in a sliding door.

“Anytime you have a case that has received this much media intensity, it's important for every party and the court system as a whole to allow both sides to have full and extensive jury selection to identify who has heard what and if it has impacted them,” Gander said.

It's also crucial to consider how potential jurors were exposed to case information — or misinformation — if they've followed news reports about the incident.

“If they heard about it from their boss or someone they respect a lot, and that person gave a very disparaging opinion of one side or the other, that could factor into how this person would perceive the actual evidence as it is taken in the courtroom,” Gander said.

Miami plaintiffs lawyer Louis Vucci worked on criminal cases before he transitioned to cruise ship injury law. Vucci stressed that while he's not familiar with the facts of this case, the Casey Anthony case can serve as a reminder of how jurors can reach entirely different conclusions than the public.

“You look at it on TV and you're 500 miles away from Orlando, and all you see is what they're showing you on television, or you see a blurb or you see someone commenting on it,” Vucci said. “But you don't really know what a jury's going to see inside the jury room.”

|

'Any one of us could have done the exact same thing'

Miami trial lawyer John “Jack” Hickey of the Hickey Law Firm spent 17 years defending cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, and a further 22 years representing plaintiffs. After viewing photographs of the ship's window set-up online, Hickey said he can't think of “a less safe situation.”

“I think this was an accident waiting to happen,” Hickey said.

The way Hickey sees it, the cruise line will likely argue that the passenger should have known the window was open and shouldn't have put the child there. But that claim might not have legs, in his view, particularly if the ship can be compared to skyscrapers, which must keep their windows fixed shut for safety reasons.

“I would have held a child up to the window, thinking, 'OK, it's like a skyscraper, the windows are sealed, there's glass here,'” Hickey said. “I think any one of us could have done the exact same thing.”

It will fall to the judge to decide whether comparisons to on-shore safety standards will be allowed, according to Vucci.

“If they are allowed in, then it's going to be a battle of the experts as to why it should or shouldn't apply,” Vucci said.

Hickey worked on many cases involving optical illusions, where passengers have thought there was glass when there wasn't, or where steps became difficult to see because of a confusing pattern on the carpet.

“It's one thing in your house to have kooky things like this,” Hickey said. “You ask somebody to come in and tell them, 'Hey, watch that step. It's kind of hard to see.' But when you're running a big commercial operation it's different.”

That's where warnings come in, Gander says, because even if the court finds that having a window closed on a cruise ship isn't a requirement in itself, it might entertain questions about whether certain warnings or visuals should have been in place to tip off Wiegand's grandfather about the danger.

“The fact that someone could go that close to an open window when everything else around it is closed, a jury certainly could find that that misled a person into believing that they were in a safe zone and that they were protected,” Gander said.

The case is expected to be filed in the Southern District of Florida, which has become the epicenter for lawsuits against cruise companies as most are based in Miami. Plaintiffs attorneys Margulies and Winkleman were unavailable for comment before deadline.

Whatever happens next, Gander said she's felt disturbed on a personal level by some comments from the public about this case.

“The abuse that, certainly early on, before the family spoke out, was being piled on the family does no one any good,” Gander said. “It's very discouraging to see people who genuinely do not know the facts of what happened making very disparaging, cruel and hurtful comments to parents and grandparents who right now are going through, probably, the greatest pain that a human being can go through on any level for any reason.”

Read more: