Casey Gerry’s experience with maritime disasters and in small boat accidents

In its over 60-year history as a plaintiffs law firm, Casey Gerry has handled numerous maritime disasters. These have occurred on commercial tuna boats, and on large commercial ships. The most famous maritime case in which Casey Gerry has been involved was the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Casey Gerry partners were an instrumental part of the trial team that obtained the $5 billion judgment arising out of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.

Casey Gerry has been involved in numerous multi-million dollar recoveries on behalf of clients who suffered severe injuries in maritime accidents. One such maritime accident involved a young fisherman in San Diego Harbor whose boat was overrun by a larger vessel. His boat overturned, and he was trapped under water for an extended period of time. Severe damage to his brain resulted. On his and his family’s behalf, we pursued the operator of the boat, as well as the boat’s designer, and were able to obtain a recovery that has helped provide security for his family.

We have represented individuals serving on commercial ships who have suffered injuries on ships far from California, and in distant oceans and ports. Our maritime accidents attorneys have used the Jones Act to secure compensation for these injured seamen.

Casey Gerry has also helped clients injured by small boats and recreational watercraft. We represented a young boy who was water skiing when he was rammed by a jet ski. The boy’s spinal injuries left him a paraplegic. In this case, it was critical to establish that the accident occurred in navigable waters. Our personal injury lawyers established his rights of recovery against the manufacturers and operators of the boat and Jet Ski.

In this case, our boating accident attorney’s careful analysis of all the legal issues prior to filing the case made an enormous difference in our ability to obtain a successful recovery for our client. In boating accidents and other recreational accidents, there is an extensive body of law based on a doctrine called the Primary Assumption of the Risk Doctrine which bars recovery. In this case our experienced personal injury attorneys were able to establish that the doctrine did not apply, and they were successful in obtaining recovery for a deserving young client.


Partner Gayle Blatt represented a college student who lost his right leg in a tragically preventable boating accident caused in part by the boat manufacturer’s dangerous placement of the boat’s swim ladder. The young man was celebrating his birthday with a group of friends on the Colorado River. In the evening as they were preparing to depart, the boat’s owner shouted for everyone to hurry and get into the boat. Her client waded out from shore into chest-deep water, where others of his party were climbing up the swim ladder and over the stern transom. One of the party told him there was a step at the bottom of the swim ladder. With his left foot on a rung of the ladder, he felt around with his right foot for the step. Without looking back, the boat’s owner started the outboard engine and put it in reverse. The young man’s foot, and then his whole leg were dragged into the propeller, which crushed and cut it so severely that surgeons could not save it.

The loss of his leg brought an abrupt end to the happy, vigorous social and athletic life that this young man had enjoyed. He now faces an extended period of physical and vocational rehabilitation, and he is likely to have periods of partial and full disability, significant pain, and the risk of medical complications from his amputation. He and his family sought Casey Gerry’s help in securing compensation for his considerable medical expenses and for his loss of enjoyment of life.

Casey Gerry’s expert witness testified that the design of the ladder mount was inherently dangerous, requiring placement only eight inches from the propeller. The manufacturer and the boat had failed to use readily available and safer alternatives, such as mounting the ladder at a greater distance from the motor, or installing an interlock that would prevent the propeller from engaging when the ladder was deployed, or an electronic delay between ignition and propeller engagement. The case resulted in a settlement which will substantially assist this young man as he deals with the challenges of rebuilding his life.