In the most recent ruling of the BP DEEPWATER HORIZON/Macondo Well blowout and spill, Judge Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisiana recently dismissed certain claims made by the plaintiffs under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, or “OPA 90.”
On April 20, 2010, the BP’s Macondo Well suffered a tragic blowout resulting in an
The 5th Circuit issued a decision this week addressing an employer’s liability for benefits under the LHWCA to an employee who was allegedly injured while working. Although the end result was employer-friendly, it took numerous appeals for the employer to obtain it. Although some language suggests the plaintiff also filed a separate tort suit, this
The Eastern District of Louisiana recently held that a marine fuel supplier who provided fuel to a vessel, through two intermediaries, did not have a valid maritime lien on the vessel even though the vessel accepted and signed for the fuel delivery. See Valero Marketing & Supply Co. v. M/V ALMI SUN, 2016 WL
The U.S. Fifth Circuit issued a decision this week that addresses the murky question of what law applies to offshore incidents. It illustrates that the choice of law issue is not merely academic but has important real-world consequences. In this case it meant that a lawsuit for over $400,000,000 was given new life. See Petrobras
In recent years, businesses of all types have experienced an uptick in lawsuits filed under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which prohibits discrimination against disabled persons regarding access to and enjoyment of places of public accommodation. With a ruling from the Western District of Louisiana in August 2015, the reach of
Contrary to courts across the pond, rare is the case in American courts where attorneys’ fees are awarded to the prevailing party. This notion is often referred to as “the American rule” of each party bearing its own costs. But in Dr. George T. Moench, et al. v. M/V Salvation, et al., no. 12-1536
A typical oilfield personal injury case in (or off the coast of) Louisiana involves a review of the relevant contracts and an analysis of whether demands for defense and indemnity can be made (and enforced) against other contracting parties. And, typically, the party on the receiving end of such a demand – usually the plaintiff’s
The U.S. Fifth Circuit recently held that a vessel management company did not have a valid maritime lien on the vessels it managed despite its attempt to create such a lien by the language in its management agreement. Comar Marine, Corp. v. Raider Marine Logistics, L.L.C., 2015 WL 4079541 (5th Cir. 2015) should serve
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the availability of maritime punitive damages claims in Atlantic Sounding v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009), maritime plaintiffs have fought tirelessly to see where else they can carve out from under the Jones Act’s prohibition from punitive damages. Recall that in Townsend, the Supreme Court recognized
Choice-of-law provisions can be simple, single-sentence contract clauses that provide some certainty to disputes that may arise out of a contractual relationship. One such way that these clauses enhance the predictability of disputes is by limiting the remedies available to the parties to the contract to those available under the chosen law. This can be