The EDLA recently determined that the Insurance Service Office’s (ISO) “Louisiana Changes” endorsement does not expand the scope of Louisiana’s direct action statute. In Menard v. Gibson Applied Technology and Engineering, 2017 WL 6610466 (E.D. La. Dec. 27, 2017), the plaintiff was a senior field technician working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and
International Trade Update: Unreasonable Deviation Precludes COGSA Limitation
By Stephen Hanemann on
Posted in Admiralty and Maritime
The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”) provides that it shall “apply to all contracts for carriage of goods by sea to or from ports of the United States in foreign trade.” In matters involving international trade, contracts for carriage – involving goods shipped to or from the United States via a foreign seaport…
Majority of EDLA Judges Acknowledge Continued Viability of Scarborough to Bar Punitive Damages Against Third Parties in Jones Act Cases
By Tod Everage on
Posted in Admiralty and Maritime, Louisiana In General
Until the U.S. 5th Circuit gets an opportunity to directly address the continued viability of Scarborough v. Clemco Industries, 391 F.3d 660 (5th Cir. 2004) in the wake of Atlantic Sounding v. Townsend, 557 U.S. 404 (2009), we are likely to see a lack of harmony among the district court judges considering this…
EDLA Rules Plug and Abandon Contract is Maritime in Nature, Providing Indemnification to Platform Owner for Personal Injury Claims
By Zoë Vermeulen on
Posted in Admiralty and Maritime, Louisiana In General
In November 2016, the Eastern District of Louisiana again confronted the “marshland” involved in categorizing a contract as maritime or non-maritime. In In re: Crescent Energy Services, LLC, No. 15-819 (E.D. La. Nov. 7, 2016), the court held that a contract to plug and abandon a well in Louisiana waters was maritime in nature.…