Case Summaries

Admiralty

[03/03] Norfolk Dredging Co. v. Wiley
An order dissolving an injunction which had been entered pursuant to the Limitation of Liability Act in an admiralty case involving a seaman's injury aboard a tug is affirmed where there was no abuse of discretion in the order since the tug owner's limitation of liability right was being preserved while allowing claimant's Jones Act claim to proceed.

[03/01] Carnival Corp. v. Iscoa
Certiorari review of an order granting plaintiff's motion to amend his personal injury complaint against a cruise line to add a claim for punitive damages is denied where the reviewing court lacks jurisdiction because the lower court followed the correct procedural requirements under statute in granting the motion.

[02/24] Mullane v. Chambers
Judgment granting reimbursement to yacht-owners for storage costs during the course of litigation but denying the owners a lien on the yacht is affirmed where maritime liens are not intended to protect owners of vehicles, and the trial court did not abuse its equitable discretion in awarding storage costs to the owners.

[02/15] Strong v. B.P. Exploration & Prod., Inc.
Denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed where plaintiff's tort claim for an injury which occurred on an oil platform is time-barred since federal maritime law applied of its own force, and thus provided the operative statute of limitations.

[02/14] Stolt Achievement, Ltd. v. Dredge B.E. Lindholm
Judgment apportioning liability equally as to the parties in a suit arising from the collision of two ships in a channel is affirmed over plaintiff's claims of error regarding: 1) a conclusion that plaintiff was negligent with regards to the collision; 2) admission of evidence; 3) a failure to find defendant's negligence a superseding cause; 4) apportionment; and 5) average adjuster's fees.

[02/13] U.S. v. Johnson
Defendant cranberry farmers' target sites are subject to jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, since they inseparably bound up with the navigable-in-fact Weweantic River because of the uncontested fact that there is a hydrological connection -- through a tributary system and its adjacent wetlands -- linking them together.

[02/07] Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp. v. Sinochem Int'l Co. Ltd.
Dismissal of plaintiff's fraudulent misrepresentation action involving a purchase and shipment of steel coils on forum non conveniens grounds is vacated where the district court should have ascertained personal jurisdiction before engaging in a forum non conveniens analysis.

[02/02] Grande v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.
Grant of a motion for judgment as a matter of law for defendant-insurer on a claim for insurance coverage following a maritime loss is vacated where the district court erred in ruling that certain disclosure flaws and lack of causation barred plaintiff's contract, estoppel, and negligence claims as a matter of law.

[02/01] Deerbrooke Invs., Inc. v. Florida Dep't of State
A tax case involving an assessment of state taxes on a vessel traveling at sea is remanded for proration in accordance with Florida Department of Revenue v. New Sea Escape Cruises, Ltd., 894 So. 2d 954 (Fla. 2005) where certain cruises to nowhere involved both foreign and intrastate commerce.

[01/31] R.M.S. Titanic, Inc. v. Wrecked & Abandoned Vessel
Order refusing to grant comity or to recognize a decision of a French administrator awarding plaintiff title to certain artifacts salvaged from a wrecked vessel and rejecting a claim to title to artifacts under the maritime law of finds is reversed in part where the district court lacked jurisdiction over the artifacts at issue.

[01/27] Piersall v. Winter
Petition for review of a decision by agency-respondent not to reverse the effects of petitioner, naval officer's, non-judicial punishment resulting from a submarine's collision with a fishing vessel is granted where the district court erred in dismissing the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

[01/19] Holmes v. Atl. Sounding Co.
Denial of plaintiff's motion to remand and the dismissal of plaintiff's Jones Act and general maritime law personal injury suit against defendants is reversed where the craft at issue was a vessel for purposes of the Jones Act. (Substituted opinion, original withdrawn.)

[01/19] Borden v. East-European Ins. Co.
Only Florida residents are entitled to utilize the provisions of Florida's Unauthorized Insurer's Process Law section 626.906 to obtain personal jurisdiction over unauthorized foreign insurers.

[01/19] Borden v. East-European Ins. Co.
Only Florida residents are entitled to utilize the provisions of Florida's Unauthorized Insurer's Process Law section 626.906 to obtain personal jurisdiction over unauthorized foreign insurers.

[01/13] Arthur v. Maersk, Inc.
Denial of plaintiff's request that his amended complaint for negligence under the Jones Act "relate back" to his original complaint for purposes of the statute of limitations is reversed where leave to amend his complaint was warranted, and the prerequisites for relation back were satisfied.

[01/05] Paparo v. M/V Eternity
Summary judgment for defendant, vessel owner, in a negligence action under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act for injuries sustained by a dock worker is reversed where the district court erred in concluding there were no issues as to any material fact regarding plaintiff's claims.

[12/28] Atl. Mut. Ins. Co., Inc. v. CSX Lines, L.L.C.
Summary judgment for defendants in a suit by an insurer, as a subrogee alleging negligence and breach of contract regarding a transport of goods, is vacated where the district court erred in finding that plaintiff had failed to submit sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of liability under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act.

[12/21] In re: Petition of McAllister Towing and Transp. Co.
Grant of motion for judgment on the pleadings for the government is affirmed where petitioner's contribution claims against the United States are barred, since the substantive right to contribution in maritime law is unavailable due to the United States' statutory immunity from liability to the injured plaintiff.

[12/16] Betty K Agencies, Ltd. v. M/V Monada
Sua sponte order dismissing with prejudice plaintiff's maritime claims as a sanction for failure to answer a counterclaim and perfect service of process is vacated since there was no finding that plaintiff acted with willful or contumacious disregard for court rules, and a finding that lesser sanctions were somehow inadequate.

[12/13] Tate v. Showboat Marina Casino P'ship
Summary judgment for defendants in an admiralty case regarding employee overtime benefits is affirmed pursuant to principles of stare decisis where the facts and circumstances of this case are identical to those of Harkins v. Riverboat Services, Inc., 385 F.3d 1099 (7th Cir. 2004).

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