Practice: Maritime Casualty

• Maritime Casualty

  Seaman Status: Do Your Employees Qualify?

  • December 7, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Special Privileges Afforded to Seamen under Maritime Law A seaman enjoys special rights under the law that are not afforded to other employees, such as the right to receive maintenance and cure if injured while in service of a vessel and the right to sue their employer in tort under the Jones Act.  However, many […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Fifth Circuit Again Addresses LHWCA’s “Other Adjoining Areas”

  • November 27, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Another Look at “Other Adjoining Areas” Only six months after its decision in New Orleans Depot Servs., Inc. v. Director, Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs, 718 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2013), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals once again addressed the issue of what was a covered situs under the Longshore and Harbor Workers […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Are Punitive Damages Again Available in Unseaworthiness Cases?

  • October 16, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Fifth Circuit Holds Punitive Damages Allowable for Certain Claims Last week, in McBride v. Estis Well Serv., L.L.C. (5th Cir. 2013), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that seamen may recover punitive damages for their employers’ willful and wanton breach of the general maritime law duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. In its […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Punitive Damages allowed by Louisiana Federal Court in LHWCA Suit

  • October 9, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Will Punitive Damages Now be Available in Louisiana for Offshore Injuries? In Callahan v. Gulf Logistics, L.L.C., No. 6:06-CV-561 2013 WL 5236888 (W.D. La. Sept. 16, 2013), the Western District of Louisiana recently permitted a plaintiff to pursue punitive damages in a vessel negligence lawsuit for injuries allegedly sustained outside territorial waters, pursuant to section […]

• Maritime Casualty

  LHWCA: “Other Adjoining Areas” Must Be Contiguous to Navigable Waters

  • September 23, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  Status and Situs An individual seeking workers’ compensation benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”) must satisfy two separate requirements—“status” and “situs.”  The “status” test requires that the recipient of benefits be engaged in “maritime employment, including any longshoreman or other person engaged in longshoring operations, and any harbor worker including a […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Federal Admiralty Jurisdiction Applies to Navigable Waters

  • September 8, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch

  Whether an accident occurs on “navigable waters” for federal admiralty jurisdiction depends on whether the body of water is subject to interstate commerce.

• Maritime Casualty

  5th Circuit Holds OCSLA and Louisiana Law Apply to Indemnity Dispute

  • July 1, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch

  In Ace Am. Ins. Co. v. M-I, L.L.C., 699 F.3d 826 (5th Cir. 2012), the Fifth Circuit recently applied the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and Louisiana law to an indemnity provision of a Master Services Agreement (MSA). Indemnity Under Master Service Agreement In Ace, two companies—M-I, L.L.C. (M-I) and British Petroleum (BP)—entered into […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Texas Court Holds That Maritime Claims Are Removable To Federal Court

  • June 5, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  More Maritime Claims Are Removable in Texas Now Federal district courts have original jurisdiction over admiralty and maritime lawsuits (i.e. “admiralty jurisdiction”), but these suits typically cannot be removed from state to federal court. However, last month in Ryan v. Hercules Offshore, Inc., 945 F.Supp.2d 772 (S.D. Tex. May 13, 2013), the Southern District of Texas held that […]

• Maritime Casualty

  Employers Not Entitled To Restitution Of Maintenance And Cure Benefits

  • June 3, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch

  The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently released an opinion concerning a maritime employer’s obligation to pay maintenance and cure benefits. In Boudreaux v. Transocean Deepwater, Inc., 711 F.3d 501 (5th Cir. 2013), the Court tackled what it called a “novel” issue: whether a successful McCorpen defense automatically entitles an employer to restitution of maintenance and cure benefits […]

• Maritime Casualty

  5th Circuit Addresses How Collateral-Source Rule Applies to “Cure”

  • April 5, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch
  

  In Manderson v. Chet Morrison Contractors, Inc., 666 F.3d 373 (5th Cir. 2012), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed the application of the collateral-source rule when awarding a seaman with “cure.” The issue was one of first impression: whether a cure award should include the difference between the amount a seaman’s medical […]