PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Channel 9 has learned the first wave of lawsuits against Princess Cruise Lines have been filed and hundreds more are expected. An attorney said some passengers may get millions of dollars.

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The Crown Princess suddenly tilted 15 degrees to the side for about 30 seconds as it left Port Canaveral on its way to New York. The incident two weeks ago sent objects and people flying across the decks.

There's an entire section called maritime law that directly applies to rules that govern cruise ships and accidents like the one that happened last week. At least five lawsuits have already been filed and, Friday, a Miami attorney with four cases said we should expect hundreds more.

As quickly as Brevard County ambulances and transit buses picked up passengers from the Crown Princess, attorneys around the country are now picking them up as clients.

"I would guess most of the 240 who were injured are going to file claims against this line and so they should," said attorney Jack Hickey.

Hickey would know. He spent 17 years working for cruise lines before jumping ship to represent passengers instead.

"It could be multi-million dollar verdicts," he said.

He said the passenger payout will vary widely depending on how severe their injuries were. He has one Crown Princess client who was recovering from surgery and could now have lifelong complications. Others broke bones or were bruised. He said, in maritime law, motional harm usually doesn't pay anything unless it results from physical injury. But in this case, more of the 3,100 passengers might have a claim since so many toppled over with the ship.

"You've got definite physical contact and you've got definite bashing of people. This is a very severe list," Hickey said.

One New York law firm has already filed five lawsuits, even advertising for clients on the front page of its Web site. There are links to the updated accident information and a signup section.

Hickey said, since the cruise line admitted human error caused the ship to violently tilt, he won't be surprised if they settle with everyone.

"That's about as close as you get to an admission of liability from the cruise lines as you can get," he said.

The attorney said the fine print on the tickets actually spells out that all lawsuits must be filed in California, where Princess Cruise Lines is based. It also says passengers have to file claims individually, not in a class action lawsuit.

The president of Princess Cruise Lines admitted that one of the ship's crew members caused last week's accident. That information was released in a statement earlier this week. The cruise line stressed the captain was not at fault and that personnel changes have been made.