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BSEE Notice to Lessees: Revised OCSLA Civil Penalty Assessment Matrix
By Tod J. Everage On February 3, 2017, BSEE issued its first Notice to Lessees (NTL) of 2017, advising of the revised OCSLA Civil Penalty Assessment Matrix. For the second time in 6 months, BSEE has...
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United States Coast Guard Updates CG-2692 Marine Casualty Reporting Form for...
By Michael J. O’Brien U.S. Coast Guard Form 2692 has been used for over forty (40) years to report marine casualties, commercial diving casualties, or outer continental shelf related causalities....
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BOEM Announces Proposal to Sell 73 Million Acres of Gulf of Mexico Leases
By Tod J. Everage With less than one week on the job, newly-confirmed Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke announced that BOEM will offer 73,000,000 acres of lease space located in the Gulf of Mexico...
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Title VII Prohibits Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation,...
By Erin Kilgore and Scott Huffstetler On April 4, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As...
View ArticleOffshore Service Companies Try Bankruptcy, Lobbying to Improve Their Finances
By J. Eric Lockridge Large and small offshore service companies are turning to the Bankruptcy Code for help with restructuring their balance sheet, and turning to Washington for help with generating...
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Louisiana Native Scott Angelle to Head the Bureau of Safety and Environmental...
By Michael J. O’Brien Scott Angelle, a native of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, has been appointed by the Trump Administration to head the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”). Mr....
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U.S. Supreme Court Limits Forum Shopping by Railroad Employees…and by...
By Michael J. O’Brien In the recent case of BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a blatant forum shopping attempt by two railway employees and limited future lawsuits against...
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U.S. 5th Circuit Highlights Chasm Between Seaman Classification Under Jones...
By Zoe Vermeulen In the recent case of Halle v. Galliano Marine Service, L.L.C., No. 16-30558, 2017 WL 1399697 (5th Cir. Apr. 19, 2017) the U.S. Fifth Circuit addressed for the first time whether ROV...
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A How-To Guide for Determining Whether a Contract is Maritime
By Daniel B. Stanton In the recent U.S. Fifth Circuit case of In re Larry Doiron, Inc., 849 F.3d 602 (5th Cir. 2017), the Court considered an often pivotal question in many offshore personal injury...
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U.S. 5th Circuit Decides that “Responsible Party” Under OPA 90 can Seek...
By McClain R. Schonekas The M/V HANNAH C. SETTOON, owned and operated by Settoon Towing, L.L.C. (“Settoon”), was towing two crude oil tank barges on the Mississippi River when an attempted passage...
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President Trump Grants Ten Day Waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico
By Daniel Stanton On September 28, 2017, President Trump granted a ten day waiver of the Jones Act for the island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, in an effort to facilitate the island’s recovery...
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Out with Davis & Sons and in with Doiron: The 5th Circuit Simplifies Maritime...
By Tod J. Everage For nearly 30 years, district courts within the US 5th Circuit have evaluated whether maritime or state law applies to oil and gas service contracts using the 6-factor test from...
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International Trade Update: Unreasonable Deviation Precludes COGSA Limitation
By Stephen C. Hanemann The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”) provides that it shall “apply to all contracts for carriage of goods by sea to or from ports of the United States in foreign trade.”...
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Company Man Presence on Platform does not Equate to Operational Control
By Michael O’Brien In Voces v. Energy Resource Technology, GOM, LLC, et al. the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the longstanding general rule in Louisiana known as the...
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U.S. 5th Circuit Addresses McCorpen, Unseaworthiness, and OSHA Preemption in...
By Tod J. Everage Recently, the US Fifth Circuit addressed three maritime tenets in the same case: McCorpen defense, unseaworthiness, and regulatory governance. While these issues can be rather...
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Split in the Circuits Sets up Punitive Damages Showdown
by Michael J. O’Brien It is now well settled in the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that a seaman cannot recover punitive damages on an unseaworthiness claim. McBride v. Estis Well...
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Spouse of Non-Seafarer Injured in Territorial Waters can Recover...
by Michael J. O’Brien In 2016, District Judge Sarah Vance ruled that the heirs of a self-employed commercial fisherman who died while fishing in state territorial waters could recover non-pecuniary...
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International Trade Update: Himalaya Clause Covenant not to Sue Affords...
By Stephen C. Hanemann In matters of international trade, a bill of lading often serves as the contract of carriage between a shipper and carrier for transportation of goods. A Himalaya clause is a...
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Louisiana Policy Endorsement does not Contractually Expand Plaintiff’s Right...
by R. Blake Crohan The EDLA recently determined that the Insurance Service Office’s (ISO) “Louisiana Changes” endorsement does not expand the scope of Louisiana’s direct action statute. In Menard v....
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“Zone of Danger” Rule Applies to Emotionally Injured Passengers Under General...
by Tod J. Everage On February 12, 2017, a fishing charter boat, the M/V SUPER STRIKE, carrying several paying customers collided with an offshore service boat, the M/V MISS IDA, during a fishing trip....
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