Tag: Federal jurisdiction

• 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

  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

  U.S. Fifth Circuit Discusses Removal Of OCSLA Claims

  • March 25, 2013
  • By Allen & Gooch

  In a February 2013 opinion, Barker v. Hercules Offshore, Inc., 706 F.3d 680 (5th Cir. 2013), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals expounded on procedural issues involving removal of cases to federal court pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C.A. 1331, et seq (West 2012). The opinion cleared up problematic issues of subject matter jurisdiction, […]