Jurisdiction: United States District Court for the Central District of California- In this action, the plaintiffs filed suit on behalf of the decedent, William Banks, in Los Angeles County Superior Court and thereafter...more
A couple of recent cases from the Eastern District of Louisiana provide useful guidance on the limits of maintenance and cure obligations. Given that failure to pay maintenance and cure can give rise to a claim for...more
Yet now, federated along one keel… MOBY DICK, HERMAN MELVILLE, Chap. XXVII - In the wake of Justice Thomas’s landmark decision in Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend, American maritime jurisprudence was left with its...more
In an earlier post, I discussed the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Dutra Group v. Batterton, which presents the question whether punitive damages may be awarded under federal maritime law in connection with an...more
When the Supreme Court agrees to hear a punitive damages case, that’s always news—even when the case involves something as arcane as the availability of punitive damages under maritime law....more
Welcome to the summer 2017 edition of Mainbrace. To say we live in interesting times would be a serious understatement. We read headlines on a daily basis that challenge traditionally accepted notions of how governments...more
In McBride v. Estis Well Service, LLC, the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that punitive damages are not available to seamen under the Jones Act or under general maritime law. In those cases, recovery is...more
The Fifth Circuit issued its en banc decision in Estis v. McBride Well Service, LLC, No. 12-30714 (5th Cir. September 25, 2014) and ruled that a Jones Act seaman’s recovery is limited to pecuniary losses where liability is...more
In a much anticipated ruling, the Fifth Circuit en banc has reversed the original panel ruling in Estis v. McBride Well Service, L.L.C., 731 F.3d 505 (5th Cir. 2013), which sent shockwaves through the maritime bar and...more
After making a splash in October of 2013 with a landmark ruling in McBride v. Estis Well Service, L.L.C., 731 F.3d 505, 517 (5th Cir. 2013) "that punitive damages remain available to seamen as a remedy for the general...more