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There are still many unanswered questions regarding the sea worthiness of the vessel “Norman Atlantic", the way her maritime tragedy was handled in every level planning, operating and rescuing. One thing is certain; this has resulted to great losses for those who are perished and their families but also for the survivors both materially and psychologically.  

Prompted by the troubling developments of this terrible accident, we offer our assistance and free legal consultation to those affected -individually or their families. We are member of the Global Justice Network that specializes in maritime accidents and has built a huge experience worldwide in supporting victims in similar cases such as the Al - Salam Boccaccio (2006) counting more than 1,000 victims, the Costa Concordia, the Express Samina etc.

At this stage, however, we advise all victims and families of victims involved, to maintain their calm and not to rush into any settlement attempt before they can consult with their attorneys who can carefully evaluate the case and guide them to most appropriate actions.

You can communicate with us by email using our contact form without any other obligation on your part.    

With a large number of participants was successfully completed last month the GLOBAL JUSICE FORUM at the COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL in New York. Our offices have been participating from the Forum’s  early stages in London and in Paris and this year were represented in New York by two attorneys. The Global Justice Forum with the Richman Center holds a seat at this highly ranked American University and had as its theme this year the income inequality and its legal consequences. This year’s legal event allocated credit points to N.Y. students and towards continuous education  while it enabled a great gathering of selected international Attorneys, Judges and University Professors from Asia, Africa, Europe  and the Americas.

Also in October 2014 our American partners from the LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN law firm (ranked for 2014 as America’s No 1 law firm in its category of plaintiff lawyers) hosted in their New York premises the coordination meeting of the GLOBAL JUSTICE NETWORK where our offices are a founding member and partner. Mr.Kokkinos was a speaker at this meeting that set forth the cooperation headlines and its ongoing structure. This network expands in dozens of countries all over the world and represents a major innovation on plaintiff attorneys practice. Its forthcoming General Assembly will be held in Amsterdam, Holland on April 2015.

Last week our law firm in collaboration with Prof. Andrea Saccucci  from Rome and the Genovese legal firm of Massimiliano Massara has filed lawsuits in front of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the case of the Greek bonds haircut for alleged violation of the right of property (art. 1 of the First protocol). We represent a large number of private as well as institutional international clients who suffered substantial damage from this unilateral action of the Greek State. We see the “haircut” as a unilateral abusive and unconventional act.

The legal community is expecting the Court's position and reaction with great interest as this is a rather  unique case were a sovereign state fails to fulfill his obligations. An extensive international legal research  has been conducted for that matter and the outcome will be scientifically as well as politically very interesting. initial reactions of the Court are being anticipated within the following few months...

On the 20.05.2014, the Supreme Court of Austria has partially upheld an action concerning the forced conversion of Greek bonds.

The claimants, who had acquired Greek bonds through an Austrian depository bank amounting to 17.000 EUR, required fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the agreement or damages in case of non-fulfillment from the Greek State. Additionally, they claimed damages due to the encroachment on their property right. The latter claim was rejected by the Supreme Court because, according to the court, the Greek State was exercising sovereign authority while creating the act of conversion and could therefore invoke the objection of State immunity, leading to lack of domestic jurisdiction.

As an emitter of bonds, however, the state was acting as a private entity; the claim of the plaintiff was therefore based on a contractual basis, making an immunity objection inadmissible. The complaint has now been sent back to the Austrian regional court which has to forward it to the Greek State before beginning the trial. The respondent is then given the chance to decide whether he wants to engage in the action in front of the Austrian courts.