In Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al. v Devries, et al., No. 17-1104 (March 19, 2019) the U.S. Supreme Court held that a product manufacturer, in a maritime tort context, has a duty to warn when its product requires incorporation of a part that the manufacturer knows or has reason to know that
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UPDATE: Punitive Damages for Jones Act Seamen are not “Pining for the Fjords, they’re Dead”!
On September 25, 2014, the en banc Fifth Circuit, in McBride v. Estis Well Serv., L.L.C., No. 12-30714 (5th Cir. Sept. 25, 2014), concluded in a brief opinion that the Supreme Court’s decision of Miles v. Apex Marine Corp., 498 U.S. 19 (1990), and its limitation on recovery to pecuniary damages, precluded Jones…
Offshore Fairness Act Proposes Extending States’ Offshore Jurisdiction
The offshore jurisdiction of states in the southeastern U.S. could triple in the relatively near future. Two Louisiana Congressmen, U.S. Sen. David Vitter and U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, recently introduced companion bills styled as the Offshore Fairness Act (OFA), which would extend the offshore jurisdictions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida (partially), Georgia, South Carolina, North…
Legal Definition of a Vessel: That Certain Unnamed Gray, Two-Story Vessel Before S.C.O.T.U.S. — Part 2
Legal Definition of a Vessel: That Certain Unnamed Gray, Two-Story Vessel Before S.C.O.T.U.S. — Part 1
A feisty dachsund and its owner, Fane Lozman, have stirred up troubled waters regarding the definition of a “vessel” in City of Riviera Beach v. That Certain Unnamed Gray, Two-Story Vessel Approximately Fifty-Seven Feet in Length, 649 F. 3d 1259 (11th Cir. 2011). That case, which is now before the 2012–2013 session of the…
Supreme Court Extends the Scope of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Landward
The United States Supreme Court, in Pacific Operators Offshore, LLP v. Valladolid, concluded that the widow of an employee who suffered fatal injuries on shore may still recover LHWCA benefits pursuant to OCSLA if her husband’s death had a “substantial nexus” to his employer’s oil and gas operations on the OCS. This is an…