Elizabeth Strunk

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On September 12, 2024, in In re Live Life Bella Vita LLC, No. 23-55613 (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2024), the Ninth Circuit joined the majority of circuits by holding that claims for indemnity and contribution are considered separate claims in the context of Limitation Actions, and thus, if a claimant wants to lift the federal court stay and proceed in state court, all claimants must execute a stipulation preserving the shipowner’s right to have the federal court determine limitation of liability.
Continue Reading Majority Rules: Ninth Circuit Joins in Treating Contribution and Indemnity Claims as Separate in Limitation Proceedings

On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Coast Guard published Change 1 to CVC Policy Letter 23-05 — Guidance on Surveillance Requirements for Certain Commercial Vessels That Do Not Carry Passengers (CVC-PL-23-05-CH01).1 This updated Policy Letter addresses the surveillance equipment characteristics that vessel owners and operators are required to install and maintain under the Safer Seas Act, which became law in December 2022 as part of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2023. …
Continue Reading USCG Updates Guidance on Safer Seas Act Camera Requirements

On March 12, 2024, in Santee v. Oceaneering International, Inc. et al., the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a published opinion reaffirming the law on several issues that consistently arise in the maritime and oil and gas industries, and particularly associated with operations on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Continue Reading Factual & Legal Leaps Fall Flat: The Fifth Circuit Affirms that Plaintiff Was Not a Jones Act Seaman

Maritime law has many unique characteristics that differentiate it from state and federal law.  One of these characteristics is the application of presumptions of fault, causation, and the condition of property, which shifts the burden of proof from one party to the other.
Continue Reading An Introduction to Maritime Law Presumptions

In a much-anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court held that choice-of-law provisions in marine insurance contracts are presumptively enforceable under federal maritime law with a few narrow exceptions. In Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, 601 U.S. ___ (2024), the country’s highest court overturned a Third Circuit Court of…

On December 4, 2023, in Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC v. Navigation Maritime Bulgare JSC, et al., the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that state law—and specifically in this case, Louisiana law—governs the applicable negligence standard and burden of proof for a pilot’s error.
Continue Reading When It Comes to Pilot Errors: State Statutes Preempt General Maritime Law

On October 30, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found that the rule established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint applied to the case at hand, barring claimants from recovering economic damages for deferred oil production.
Continue Reading Corporate Protection Pipeline: Court Denies Economic Damages Based on Robins Dry Dock