A personal injury attorney says he is working on filing a class-action lawsuit in Miami on behalf of passengers on the Costa Concordia, but a maritime attorney is critical of the suit.

Attorney Mitch Proner, who is based in New York, said the ship's disgraced captain may be taking the heat, but the entire company is at fault -- all the way up to Costa's parent company, Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines. That is why he's working to file the suit in Miami by Wednesday, he said.

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Hundreds of passengers will seek $160,000 each, more for those with injuries—a total that will reach more than $500 million if all the ships passengers are paid.

South Florida board certified maritime attorney Jerry Hamilton is critical of the pending lawsuit. He argues that rarely, if ever, has a suit related to a cruise line survived a legal challenge when it comes to the ticket’s venue clause. 

Hamilton also thinks in this case, the individualized injuries don’t meet the legal level of a class-action suit because it would be hard to show that everyone involved was damaged in the same way.  

"This would be a frivolous lawsuit if filed in Miami against Carnival," Hamilton said. "The lawyers filing this suit would potentially subject themselves to monetary sanctions entered against them by the Court."

Meanwhile, a survivor told Local 10's Christina Vazquez that Costa called Monday, offering the Concordia passenger five free psychological counseling sessions. Costa spokesman Buck Banks said Tuesday that the company does not have a statement about that at this time.

The passenger also received an email from the company. Click here to read the email.