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Originally Posted by Butch Cassidy Slept Here
Indeed the definition you cited makes no mention, whatsoever, of where the person is when giving their testimony. My understanding is that the judge has the bailiff swear you in before you begin your presentation. Likewise the same would apply to a defendant in a small claims action.
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I have never in my life heard of a lawyer being sworn in, unless they are
testifying, or giving a deposition, in an unrelated case and just happen to be a lawyer by profession. There's no need to "swear to tell the truth" if you're not on the stand, why would a bailiff swear the lawyers in? Doesn't make sense.
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As to the matter of the contract, I assume you mean the Contract of Carriage. The question would be whether the OP has a reasonable basis to assert that the combination of unconscionable terms and a "contract of adhesion" render the Contract of Carriage unenforceable as to the cause of action. The OP says "...we barely made our cruise..." Would the court's position be that the OP was obligated to make a high cost ship to shore phone call? That the OP "...barely..." made the cruise was the fault of Delta. Perhaps if her flight had arrived, as scheduled, the OP might have made the necessary report in a timely fashion. True, it appears the OP still had two days, according to your number, remaining after the cruise to make said report. How much hay the defendant has make out of this, and how much weight the court would give to the matter of said two days remains to be seen.
Given the less than stellar image US-based airlines have I find it hard to believe the OP would walk out of court without a dime.
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The idea that they "barely" made their cruise could be debated. Barely to you may mean 20 min before departure, to me it may mean 5 min, to the OP it may have meant 2 hours, to a judge deciding on the case, it could be interpreted to mean 45 min. The idea is this, "barely" may or may not result in placing the blame on Delta. The COC doesn't specify how long before your departure time they will get you there. It only says that they will get you there, or make their best effort to rebook you, etc, etc. The OP said there were 3 maintenance delays before they even left. Probably an exaggeration, but none the less, even with 3 delays, they still made the cruise. As far as making an expensive phone call, there's a thing called email that's free. I guarantee the ship had internet access. Moving on, what does the "image" of an airline have to do with a court settlement? The judge isn't going to decide in favor of the airlines because they have a "less than stellar" image, he's going to decide that way because it would be the fair and legal thing to do. As much as you'd like to think myself and others are paid by the airlines to defend them, a judge most certainly is not, and could care less if Delta has to pay a fine. They would be a impartial, outside, objective decision maker.