New York City, New York (NewYorkInjuryNews.com) — When you are traveling outside of this country it is always a good idea to make sure your health insurance covers you if you become sick or injured in another country. And obviously another good travel tip is that you obey all laws while visiting a foreign country. Not all countries afford someone accused of a crime the rights which we have in this country.
But what about your right to bring a lawsuit if you are injured in another country? Are you limited to what the law of the country allows for compensation? Must you find a lawyer in the country where you were injured to bring suit and bring your lawsuit there? As are many things in the law, the answer is, it depends.
Before you can sue anyone in a Court in the United States, it must be found that there is what is called “jurisdiction” – that is that they have something of a presence in this country so that it is considered fair to make them respond in our Courts to any type of lawsuit. Suppose you are at a resort in another country and you fall due to a defective sidewalk and fracture your hand or what if (and this is a case that our law firm handled many years ago) you are bitten by a shark attracted to the area by the hotel’s practice of dumping garbage near where people swim? If that resort derives a substantial amount of its revenue from advertising here, it may be subject to the jurisdiction of our Courts.
It is really determined on a case-by-case basis, where the Court looks at all the facts to see if making a foreign company answer a suit for damages in this country does not offend our notions of justice (what we call due process). It can get very tricky so get in touch with a lawyer who knows what he is doing and has had experience in handling these types of cases.
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Contributor: Vito Cannavo – Trial Lawyer handling premises and injury liability and related litigation Leading New York City Personal Injury lawyer.