Admiralty & Maritime
Economic Loss Rule Precluded Vessel Owner’s Tort Recovery Against Shipyard
Associated Gas & Oil Co. (“Associated”) purchased liftboats from Offshore Marine, Inc. (“OMI”). Pursuant to the parties’ agreement, OMI was to make certain additions... More
Fifth Circuit: No Right to Restitution for Maintenance and Cure Payments
When Plaintiff was hired, he completed a pre-employment medical questionnaire. Plaintiff failed to disclose his serious preexisting back problems, affirmatively answering “no” to several... More
No Proof, No Law, No Punitive Damages
On February 15, 2012, Judge Brown, on the bench for the United States District Court in New Orleans, issued an interesting opinion in the... More
Federal Court Vacates “K.S.,” the Benefits Review Board’s Seminal Average Weekly Wage Opinion
In 2009, the Benefits Review Board (“BRB”) issued a very important decision detailing how to calculate an injured Defense Base Act (“DBA”) worker’s average weekly... More
Non-Signatory to Contract Bound By Arbitration Clause
With increasing frequency, mandatory arbitration clauses are being written into maritime contracts. You may have run across them in charter parties, towage and salvage... More
Annual Longshore Conference, and Articles Around the Blogosphere
We are one month away from Loyola’s Annual Longshore Conference, which is the premier conference for Longshore and Defense Base Act employers, insurers and... More
Fifth Circuit Addresses Dual Capacity Employers and the “Something More” Factors
Plaintiff was employed as a crane operator by Defendant, which was both the vessel owner and the contractor of a crane. The crane developed... More
Eleventh Circuit Defines “Navigable Waters”
The Eleventh Circuit answered a question “almost as old as the doctrine of admiralty jurisdiction itself.” The question: what are navigable waters? According to... More
Fifth Circuit Issues Decision Strictly Construing Section 28(b) Attorneys Fees
Claimant injured his ankle at work on October 7, 2004, and Employer paid temporary total disability benefits from October 8, 2004 through June 13,... More
The Fifth Circuit Explains the Application of Maritime Law to Jack-Up Rigs and Removal of OCSLA Claims
After watching his friend and co-worker die as a result of an accident on a jack-up rig attached to the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”),... More