James M. Walker attended Duke University and graduated cum
laude in 1980. He attended Tulane University School of Law, graduating in 1983
after taking Tulane's internationally renown admiralty curriculum.
Mr. Walker practiced maritime and personal injury law for four years in New Orleans,
Louisiana and for the past fifteen years in Miami, Florida. He served on the Admiralty Law
Committee of the Florida Bar, and has been a member of the Maritime Law Association of the
United States since 1984. Mr. Walker is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Southeast Admiralty Law Institute, and the Florida Admiralty Trial Lawyers Association.
Mr. Walker previously represented several cruise lines operating out of Miami, Fort
Lauderdale and Port Canaveral before devoting his maritime personal injury practice to
representing exclusively passengers and crew members. Mr. Walker has experience in
sexual assault and sexual harassment cases and represents passengers and crew employees
victimized on cruise ships and private yachts.
Mr. Walker was recently consulted regarding maritime personal injuries issues in an
article entitled "Passenger Rights and Wrongs".
The firm was featured in a documentary produced by Investigative Reports, entitled "Cruise
Ships in Troubled Waters", which aired on the A & E Channel. The
documentary was based on the New York Times' investigation into crime, inadequate medical
treatment, and other issues involving passenger and crew member safety on cruise ships.
Mr. Walker was also consulted regarding CBS's in-depth investigation on the issue
of medical care aboard the foreign flagged cruise ships which sail from Florida ports,
entitled "A Dream Cruise - An Unexpected Death. View and Listen to the CBS Report
Cases handled by the firm on behalf of injured clients have been reported in the
national and international press. Recent articles include "Rape Suit Filed Against
Celebrity Cruise Line" (Bahamas B2B.com); "U.S. Courts are Getting Tough on
Cruise Lines" (Miami Herald), "Cruise Worker Alleges Rape, Sues Over
Handling," (St. Petersburg Times); "English Channel Collision Turns into
Norwegian Nightmare" (Salt Lake Tribune); "When the Fun Stops - Sexual Assaults
are the Cruise Lines' Dirty Secret" (Miami's Daily Business Review and American Law
Media); and "Cruise Line Settles in Boys Alleged Rape" (Fort Lauderdale Sun
Sentinel).
Mr. Walker is a resident in the firm's office in Miami (Dade County). The firm
has handled cases for clients from throughout the United States, as well as Canada,
Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the Philippines.
Lisa O. O'Neill
Lisa O. O誰eill graduated cum laude from the University of Florida School of Law in 1985. She was Senior Articles Editor of the Law Review. Ms. O誰eill received the Gertrude Brick Award for outstanding legal writing and was published in the 1985 University of Florida Law Review. Prior to attending law school, Ms. O誰eill attended Duke University and graduated
cum laude with a double major in English and Art History in 1982.
After graduation from law school, Ms. O誰eill practiced law for eighteen years at two of the largest and most prestigious law firms in Miami. In 2003, Ms. O誰eill joined the firm in order to assist in the firm痴 active passenger personal injury practice. Ms. O誰eill is extensively involved in cases involving women and children who have been sexually assaulted on cruise ships operated by Miami based cruise lines. She is currently representing sexual assault victims in lawsuits filed against Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian Cruise lines.
Ms. O誰eill is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Southeast Admiralty Law Institute, and the Florida Admiralty Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. O誰eill speaks Spanish.
Paul M. Hoffman P.A.
Paul M. Hoffman (Of Counsel) has practiced law for the past twenty four years. Based in Fort Lauderdale (Broward County) Florida, Mr. Hoffman is one of South Florida's most experienced maritime personal injury trial lawyers. After graduating from Hobart College, he obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1976. Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Bar in Florida and Massachusetts and is admitted to practice in Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida and the District Court of Massachusetts. He is a member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Mr. Hoffman is the author of A Handbook On Cruise Ship Passenger Claims.
Mr. Hoffman is a widely respected trial attorney in South Florida. He has tried in excess of one hundred cases to verdict. Mr. Hoffman has been involved in numerous reported cases involving maritime personal injuries, including some of the most important cases in Florida addressing the rights of injured seamen. One landmark case is International Ships Services, Ltd. v. Canales, 639 So. 2d 74 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1994). In Canales, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the right of injured crew members to obtain punitive damages when the cruise line arbitrarily refuses to pay maintenance and cure. Mr. Hoffman regularly litigates cases in Miami and Fort Lauderdale involving passengers and crew employees injured on cruise ships sailing from ports in Florida and around the world.
