Summary Judgment Was Not Appropriate in Jones Act Case Against Louisiana
Plaintiff worked on a ferry boat operated by the State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development. On August 1, 2007, she slipped and sustained injuries while cleaning an oil leak the...
View ArticleRemoval of a General Maritime Claim
A recent amendment to the widely-utilized removal statute, 28 U.S.C § 1441, now allows for removal of a general maritime law claim to federal court absent diversity of citizenship between the parties....
View ArticleTrial Court Disbelieved Plaintiff, Determined He Was Not a Seaman
Last week, Louisiana’s Third Circuit published a Jones Act decision wherein it affirmed the lower court’s decision that Plaintiff failed to carry his burden of proof that he was a Jones Act seaman....
View ArticleLongshore Fraud Nets Prison Time
Mervin J. Noel, 51, of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, plead guilty to one count of making false statements to continue receiving workers’ compensation benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’...
View ArticleMineral Lessee Does Not Have a Duty to Police the Waterways it Leases
In June 2014, Danny Luke was checking his crab traps when his skiff struck a submerged piling. Mr. Luke’s vessel was damaged by the collision, and he sustained injuries to his head, neck, back, and...
View ArticleGeographical Proximity is Not the Only Factor in Deciding OCSLA Jurisdiction
Robert Lewis, Jr. filed suit under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), alleging injuries to his left elbow, cervical spine, and lumbar spine as the result of an accident that occurred while...
View ArticleNo Expansion of the Longshoreman Definition
Coming before the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals was the question of whether the Claimant was covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act or the Louisiana Workers’...
View ArticleDropping Anchor Does Not Trigger a Requirement to Provide Notice Under La. RS...
A dredge, seeking to secure position for anchoring, lowered its dredge ladder and cutter head into the seabed, striking a pipeline. The pipeline owner sued the owner of the dredge claiming, among other...
View Article$23 Million Punitive Damage Award Upheld by Louisiana Appellate Court
On June 29, 2016, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a jury’s award of $23 million in punitive damages to the family of a young man fatally injured in a boating accident. The accident...
View ArticleLouisiana law applies over maritime law where accident occurred on...
On March 10, 2017 the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana held that Louisiana substantive law, not maritime law, applied in a dispute governed by the Outer Continental...
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