Are You Ready to Dive in?
Welcome (back) to the Empire Spring Leagues!
Last year, Empire Mock Trial founded the Spring Leagues Competition: an international mock trial tournament accessible to all, regardless of experience level, financial status, or geographic barriers. The goal: to offer teams a new arena to sharpen their advocacy skills and connect with their peers.
Thanks to you, it was a success. The inaugural Spring Leagues featured 625 students from 23 states and 3 different countries. The average cost to participate was just $14 per student. And teams impressed judges with their mastery of a challenging and topical case.
This year, Empire is excited to welcome back teams from across the globe for the second annual Spring Leagues. Whether you want to end your season in style, or just need an excuse to spend (more) time with your teammates, the Spring Leagues will do just that.
…And of course, a new Spring Leagues season means a new case for you.
Emory Shapiro v. Sapphire Submarine Expedition, Inc.
Sapphire Submarine Expeditions (“Sapphire”) is a privately-owned company based in Pasquale, Empirion. The business provided crewed submersibles for tourism, industry, research, and exploration. Unlike submarines, submersibles are small, underwater vehicles that need to be transported and supported by another larger vessel. In 2021, Sapphire began taking paying tourists to visit the wreck of the Rheingold, a famous cruise liner that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1916. As of 2022, the price to be a passenger on a Sapphire expedition to the Rheingold shipwreck was $250,000 per person. In 2023, Sapphire promoted its newly minted submersible, the Valkyrie (val·kr·ee), and distributed advertisements for an opportunity to see the Rheingold. Several wealthy tourists, including the Shapiro family, signed up for Sapphire’s next expedition to the Rheingold wreck.
On June 18, 2023, the Valkyrie embarked on a dive to the Rheingold wreckage. The submersible was piloted by Sapphire’s co-founder and CEO, Modesto Haste. Four other people were aboard, including Alfie and Joseph Shapiro. During the dive, the Valkyrie lost contact with its mothership, prompting an international search and rescue operation. After several days of unsuccessful attempts to rescue the vessel, Sapphire announced that Modesto Haste and the tourists aboard the ship were “tragically lost.” On June 22, 2023 wreckage from the submersible was discovered on the seabed approximately 500 meters from the Rheingold wreck site. Experts later concluded that the submersible imploded during the voyage, killing all five people on board. On July 6, 2023, Sapphire suspended all operations in light of the fatal implosion.
Following the divers’ disappearance, Emory Shapiro filed a wrongful death claim of gross negligence against Sapphire Submarine Expeditions.
The Plaintiff’s Case: Deadly Decisions
The news of the submersible’s implosion was an emotional tragedy. But Emory Shapiro’s trial lawyers are confident: they don’t need to rely on emotions to sway the jury.
For the Shapiro family, the evidence is clear. Sapphire Submarine Expeditions ignored extreme risks that put their passengers’ lives in danger. From the beginning, the company’s own CEO Modesto Haste admits that he ignored industry standards when designing and building the Valkyrie submersible – using different materials, cutting costs to maximize capacity, and not seeking a safety certification. The dangers continued when Sapphire decided to use this submersible to take tourists to a shipwreck located 12,500 feet underwater – a depth that no other underwater expedition company goes to. And the risks continued in the days leading up to the submersible’s disappearance – witnesses repeatedly told Sapphire that they saw signs that suggested the submersible was reaching its breaking point.
The plaintiff has brought a claim of gross negligence against Sapphire Submarine Expeditions. But in order to prevail, they are going to need to prove more than a simple lack of caution or ordinary carelessness. Gross negligence is the lack of any care or an extreme departure from what a reasonably careful person would do. Despite their burden, the plaintiff has conviction in their case.
Sapphire’s Defense: Choose Your Adventure.
Sapphire Submarine Expeditions’s defense counsel is hard at work preparing their case. For them, this case presents some unique challenges – not only what evidence to present, but what legal arguments to make to the jury.
At a minimum, Sapphire can argue that they weren’t grossly negligent. Sapphire took reasonable measures to make sure the submersible was safe. They conducted research before building the Valkyrie submersible. They took the Valkyrie on test dives before opening up trips to tourists. And the CEO Modesto Haste went on every dive himself.
But there are also affirmative defenses. Sapphire can claim comparative fault: is there evidence that the plaintiffs’ own carelessness may have caused this accident? Sapphire can also argue assumption of the risk: is there evidence to show that the plaintiffs knew the dangers involved in a dive like this and proceeded anyway? Or Sapphire can point to intervening and superseding causation: is there evidence that some other unpredictable event was the actual reason for the submersible’s disappearance?
The defense has one month before their trial strategy is on full display in the Empirion District Court.
Why This Case?
As part of Empire’s mission to educate, connect and empower, we select case topics that are unique, topical, and socially relevant. For the Spring Leagues, we focus on recent newsworthy events that present interesting legal and social issues. With Shapiro v. Sapphire Submarine Expeditions, Empire seeks to challenge students with issues involving gross negligence in the context of a civil wrongful death action.
Shapiro v. Sapphire Submarine Expeditions is based on the disappearance of Titan, a tourist submersible that was owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, Inc. On June 18, 2023, the Titan embarked on a trip to the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. Five people, including OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, were on board the submersible. About an hour and forty-five minutes into the dive, the Titan lost contact with its mothership. This prompted an around-the-clock search that drew international media attention. After several days of unsuccessful searching, authorities concluded that the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion that killed everyone aboard
We selected gross negligence as the subject of this case because it presents issues that everyone experiences in their everyday lives (albeit on a smaller scale). Consider the descriptive questions: what does it mean to be grossly negligent? How does that differ from simple negligence? How do we distinguish between the two? What duties and responsibilities does a company owe to its customers? And what risks and responsibilities does a customer assume when they choose to participate in certain types of activities?
We also encourage students to consider the normative questions: why does the law distinguish between simple negligence and gross negligence? Why does the law require proof of gross negligence in order for a plaintiff to prevail in some cases but not others? Should it? We challenge students to think critically about the purpose of these laws, and whether the law achieves its intended goals.
We hope you enjoy Shapiro v. Sapphire Submarine Expeditions!
Nicholas Cotter
2024 Spring Leagues Case Committee Co-Chair
Is your team ready to make a splash at Empire? We’re still accepting applications for the 2024 Empire Spring Leagues ! Secure your spot and register for the 2024 Fall Season online or in person in Philadelphia and Chicago!