Admiralty & Maritime
Port of New Orleans Included in Customs Electronic Payment System Pilot Program
In early January 2018, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) plans to begin an 18-month test of an electronic payment system for taxes and... More
NINTH CIRCUIT FINDS SUICIDE ATTEMPT BY LONGSHOREMAN COMPENSABLE
In 2001, Claimant William Kealoha was injured while working as a ship laborer. Kealoha fell 25 to 50 feet off a barge onto a... More
President Trump Waives Jones Act in Response to Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, more commonly known as the Jones Act, was passed to promote and maintain the American merchant marine by,... More
New Version of Nautical Rules of the Road Published
The United States Coast Guard has published a new amalgamated version of the nautical Rules of the Road to improve the readability and understanding... More
NINTH CIRCUIT HOLDS DEFENSE BASE ACT’S ZONE OF SPECIAL DANGER APPLICABLE TO LOCAL NATIONALS
Claimant, a citizen of the Marshall Islands, was employed as a civilian defense contractor based in the Kwajalein Atoll, which houses the U.S. Army... More
Federal Policy Remains that Arbitration Agreements and their Broad Construction are Favored
Plaintiff filed a seaman’s complaint alleging that he incurred injury while working as a crew member on one of the defendant’s vessels because the... More
Fifth Circuit Vacates Summary Judgment and Allows Consideration of Plaintiff’s Expert
The plaintiff allegedly sustained injuries when he fell on a vessel owned by his employer. He filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court... More
White House Budget Proposal Could Result in Huge Financial Loss for Gulf Coast Region
On May 23, 2017, at a time when oil prices have started to rise and energy companies have regained optimism about the prospect of... More
U.S. Fifth Circuit reverses district court’s grant of summary judgment, finding that ROV Technician was not a seaman as a matter of law
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a district court erred in finding that a plaintiff, who was a... More
Federal District Court Once Again Addresses Discoverability of Surveillance
The Eastern District of Louisiana recently issued another opinion interpreting Chiasson v. Zapata Gulf Marine Corp., the benchmark Fifth Circuit case that guides the... More