They have barely found themselves back on land and a number of lawsuits have already been filed against Carnival Cruise Lines over the disastrous ship Triumph’s trip from hell.  An engine room fire on February 10 left the 3,000 passengers with no toilets or air conditioning, little food and fresh water for five days until they were towed back to the Port of Mobile, Alabama.

The passengers remained helpless at sea about 150 miles off the coast of Mexico for five days. It’s still uncertain why the ship remained disabled for so long.

CNN reports a class action lawsuit has already been filed by passengers who say that Carnival knew or should have known “that the vessel Triumph was likely to experience mechanical and/or engine issues because of prior similar issues.”

The ship’s condition presented a risk of injury, illness and disease, but reportedly there was only one man taken off the ship who had to be treated for dehydration at a Houston hospital. Considering the fact that feces overflowed from toilets onto the ship, there was little or spoiled food to eat and with no air conditioning, passengers had to sleep in public areas, it’s amazing more people were not sickened.

Even though others are likely to join this class action you should know it is very difficult to sue any cruise line. That’s because the small print on the back of your ticket contains your legal obligations and rights with the corporation and Carnival has covered itself for any eventuality including bad weather or mechanical problems.

The mechanical condition of the Triumph before it launched from Galveston, Texas for the four-day cruise to Mexico will be explored. A fire reportedly broke out damaging the propulsion system and generators and knocking out power. The fire started from a leak ignited from a fuel-oil line from one engine.

One of the lawsuits filed in Miami claims the Triumph had mechanical troubles recently so it will be important to determine whether Carnival was negligent in allowing the ship to return to sea so quickly.

Passengers are generally restricted to filing in the Miami jurisdiction under the rules as set out on the back of the ticket. Consumers are reminded to read the fine print which is essentially an iron-clad contract between you and the cruise line.

Usually a judge must decide whether the contract can be waived and a class action can be filed. Otherwise you might have to depend on the cruise line and its willingness to win some public relations good will.

Consumers are being warned to stop using the Imaginarium Activity Walkers for children after the government received five reports of the wheels detaching. No children were injured.

The product is sold by Toys R Us which has issued a recall for 9,000 units of the walkers, used to help babies take their first steps. The walker has a wooden push handle at the top of the walker and the base has four wheels.  A small bolt and spacer attached to the front wheel can potentially detach and cause the child to fall and/or choke on the parts.

Consumers are encouraged to take the walkers back to the store for a full refund.

The Imaginarium Activity Walker was sold exclusively at Toys R Us stores from August 2011 through January of this year at a cost of about $30. The walker was made in China and imported by Toys R. Us Inc of Wayne, New Jersey.

Health Canada has issued a similar Consumer Product Recall.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and its CPSC Safer Products site will continue to take consumer calls and complaints regarding this recalled product.

Federal law prohibits anyone from selling or re-selling a defective product on the retail or second-hand market where many children’s products end up.

The CPSC protects the public from thousands of consumer products that pose an unreasonable risk of injury or death. The cost to the nation for defective consumer products? More than $900 billion annually.

That may include baby products and children’s bedding with carcinogenic flame retardant chemicals, which were removed from the market in California beginning in January; defective baby furniture and cribs which can trap and suffocate infants; and defective child products containing lead, among many other products that have been recalled over the years.

The agency has been criticized for working too closely with manufacturers. In August 1995, the CPSC initiated a fast-track recall program to get defective products off of store shelves.

In a concession to manufacturers, the CPSC eliminated the preliminary determination to establish whether or not a product is defective in its design, its manufacturing or in its instructions for use. In return, manufacturers agreed to comply with a recall and to notify distributors, wholesaler and retailers within 20 days. This saves years of litigation and gets defective products off the store shelves quicker.

Under law, manufacturers must report any risks of serious injury or death to the CPSC and the agency receives about 300 a year. A failure to report a defective product can result in a civil penalty of up to $1.5 million.

In this case, the loss of the product itself will cost Toys R Us around $270,000; plus the overhead and costs involved in announcing and running the recall process. Why can’t we reach a program in which manufacturers actually test their products before placing them on the market; to, for example, determine whether the wheels will fall off before they go on the shelves for sale to unwary consumers.

The company can be reached at (800) 869-7787 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

I, and the other attorneys in my firm, represent people who experience tragedies in their lives. Sometimes clients do receive justice.

Sometimes the defendants make honest mistakes, other times their neglect is particularly egregious.

The case I recently tried, with Greg Barnhart and Matt Schwencke in my firm, was flagrant because the nature of the negligence was so preventable. The case was particularly tragic because of the emotional devastation suffered by the parents of a child struck down before his life even began.

How many times have you tried to pull out of a parking lot into traffic, only to have your vision of the roadway partially or totally blocked by a bush, a sign or some other obstruction? How many times as you pull across the sidewalk do you think to yourself, “Why the property owner couldn’t cut their bushes?”

My last case involved a death trap designed by the people who were supposed to make sure the trap did not exist: the land owner and their property management company.

The trap resulted in the death of 9 year old Andrew Curtis, struck and killed by a motorist who could not see him on his bike while exiting at Jupiter’s Villas on the Green Condominium complex. The trap resulted in the emotional destruction of the lives of Andrew’s parents, Tracy Curtis and Andre Kovacs.

This tragic crash occurred one afternoon while Andrew and his father Andre were riding their bikes and approaching the drive way to the condominium complex. Andre and Andrew could not see the car coming out of the exit way and the driver could not see them as a result of the unmaintained bushes and poor placement of a stop sign. The driver pulled through the exit and ran right over the top of Andrew’s head.

I am not a mother and when I handle cases involving the death of children, I always try to gain a firm appreciation for parents suffering the sudden and unexpected death of their children.  The emotional loss for parents who is devastating especially when the death is sudden, unexpected and preventable.

They will never see Andrew his first homerun, surf his first tough wave or see the joy of his first soccer goal. They will not see their child go to the prom, attend college, fall in love for the first time, get married or have grandchildren run through their home.

No amount of money will ever make it better. In our society, though, the rendering of a full verdict is the only way a parent who has suffered losing their beloved son can legally obtain some amount of justice, some amount of closure.

We were in trial on the case for several weeks. We made multiple efforts to reasonably resolve the case with the defendants in an effort to keep our clients from having to relive losing their son over again, the defendants were not interested.

After requiring my clients to relive losing their son and the circumstances of that loss, the jury found that the condominium’s property management company 60% at fault and the condominium association 30% at fault and awarded a $12 million verdict. Sadly, the defendants even tried to place blame on Andrew’s father Andre, claiming that he should have been able to keep Andrew from being struck by the car.

Clearly our trial team had illustrated my clients’ devastation to the jury in a way they would ask to give my clients what they really needed: someone who said they understood and were sorry for their loss.

After the verdict was read, the foreperson said, “Judge, we just have one request, can we hug the parents?” It was the most moving moment in my 18 year professional career.

I have been asked by friends and family: “how do you pick a trial lawyer?”

I even have those calls about my friend needing a lawyer and wanting the “meanest, nastiest lawyer you know”.

So, how do you pick a lawyer or law firm?

Should you base it on a law firm’s commercials? Do you base it on how much the lawyer says they can get you? Do you base it on a firm’s website or their print materials? Do you ask around to friends and people you trust?

A law firm may advertise on television, but let’s be honest, that is largely to keep their name in your mind or in the mind of the public as a whole. If the law firm “promises” something in the ad, ask yourself if it is really something they can promise.

What was the case about?

These are all meaningless and statements of utter nonsense without the really important information:

• What were Bill’s injuries?
• How much were Bill’s medical bills and lost wages?
• How long did it take to settle Bill’s case?
• Would it have been smarter and more beneficial to Bill if he had gone to trial and had an experienced trial lawyer in the courtroom?

After over 35 years working for insurance companies and lawyers, I can tell you with absolute certainty that settling someone’s case for $361,000 when it is actually worth $750,000, for example, is easy. Any neophyte can settle a case for a fraction of its value and insurance companies love dealing with law firms and lawyers who settle their clients’ cases for only a fraction of the real value.

It requires attorneys with special skills and loyalty to clients to recommend cases not be settled for dimes on the dollar. It requires lawyers skilled in the courtroom with real trial experience to recommend a client take their case to a jury to receive fair compensation for their loss or injury.

When you need a competent attorney who will look out for your best interests first, you should have the following information to consider:

Education. Where did the attorney go to school and where is that school rated in terms of other law schools. What grades did the attorney receive? Where the lawyer received their degree is an important piece of information, but much like any other professionals; I have known unqualified lawyers who went to Harvard and highly competent lawyers who went Youngstown State Law School.

What types of law have you practiced? Hiring a lawyer to handle a matter that may go to trial when she has been doing real estate closing for the past 10 years is probably not the best selection. Ask what other firms they have practiced with and what made them come here to their present firm.

Are you “board certified”? Have you received any awards for superior practice? Are you included in “Best Lawyers”?

How much experience have they had with a case like yours? Experienced lawyers can usually rattle off several similar cases. They can also, usually, provide descriptions detailed enough while avoiding disclosing client confidences.

Who works with them? Do they have a secretary dedicated only to them? Do they have a paralegal? Do they have research attorneys? What other resources do they have at their disposal for which they will not charge you an additional cost?

How much in settlement or verdict did you get for your clients in those cases. Sometimes cases are settled with confidential settlements and in those cases the attorney may not discuss amounts; but qualified attorneys typically have plenty of case examples.

Who, besides the attorney, can you speak to about your case?

How long will my case take to conclude? The majority of cases are settled for amounts fair to all concerned, but some cases have to be taken to trial. Some defendants are not reasonable. Most experienced attorneys will give you a range of months to years.

What is your fee? Find a competent firm willing to handle your personal injury case on a “contingent fee” basis and who will pay the costs in the case until you make a recovery. Find one that will agree, in writing, to charge you a fee and costs only if you make a recovery.

Ask anything else you think will help you feel the attorney is competent and can help you with your case. Check out the firm’s website and see if they and the attorney seem to have the experience they claim.

Then…make your best judgment; but never stop asking questions.