Blog

The Jones Act and the general maritime law protect those injured while working in the service of a vessel. Our maritime injury attorneys always stay atop admiralty news. The NTSB just issued a cause and origin report on the sinking of the SEACOR Liftboat.

March 2, 2022, Newport, Rhode Island: Rhode Island has a civil death statute which essentially barred a person imprisoned for life from bringing a civil action. We like fairness in this world and that doesn't seem fair. Today, the Rhode Island Supreme Court invalidated the law has violating a fu...

I like depositions and trials. I like the clarity that comes from the pressure. But to pepper questions in the boardroom or press a witness in the courtroom, you need a lawsuit. We file lawsuits for yachties, merchant mariners, passengers and anyone else injured working on or around the sea . . ...

BREAKING: Newport, RI: The U.S. Coast Guard just issued Marine Safety Alert 06-21 notifying mariners of the possibility of a hazard involving the way threads were machined that could cause vessel steering problems. This is a situation mariners should be aware of and recognize that losses or da...

New Legislation Might Help Maritime Claimants Everyone likes harmony whether it's Kansas belting out Carry on my Wayward Son or the simple no-drama setting of shipboard unity. Sadly, the sweet harmony of similar sound isn't something you find in the maritime law. Take for example, the 1851 Lim...

Newport, Rhode Island: Big appellate decision just out from the 11th Circuit. It helps the boat owner by giving boat owners a chance to avoid the horribly difficult burdens imposed by the maritime law when it comes to marine insurance claims. The decision begins like this: This case concerns t...

PAN-PAN-PAN Newport, Rhode Island Maritime attorney John K. Fulweiler, a Rhode Island lawyer representing passengers and crew in maritime injury lawsuits and also representing individuals and maritime businesses in recovering money in maritime claims was featured on the BoatWatch.org website...

In August, 2019, a powerboat and small sailboat collided in the vicinity of the Newport Bridge in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management was tasked with the investigation. Our query around here: "Does the RI DEM have the skillset to accomplish suc...

PRESS RELEASE Rhode Island Maritime Law Firm to Offer Free Wake-Hazard Education Seminar NEWPORT, R.I. – September 30, 2019 – The legal team at Fulweiler llc (saltwaterlaw.com), a Rhode Island maritime law firm representing injured workers and passengers on the East and Gulf Coasts, has anno...

The obligation of maintenance is triggered when a seaman is disabled while in the service of the vessel no matter the cause. It's an obligation intended and enforced to protect the "poor and friendless" sailor – hey, those are the court's words not mine! But what if the seaman returns to work? D...

Recent press reports describe the death of a 60 year old woman who was apparently thrown from her sailboat when it collided with a 25' powerboat. This is a tragic situation where a sailing event in Newport, RI leads to the death of a sailor. Because the maritime law has complicated processes t...

Despite being from a coastal state where the dangers maritime workers face every day should be well appreciated, Judge Samuel Alito wrote the U.S. Supreme Court's majority opinion refusing to allow a deckhand to claim punitive damages for an unseaworthy vessel. The decision, in this maritime law...

No paper charts. I was on a bridge the other day and was told: "Nope, no paper" in the rounded accent of a Romance language. "But why?" I asked. "Redundancy!" was the reply and I gave up at that point. Was there a sextant aboard, a stub of pencil or even a compass that didn't require an electric...

John K. Fulweiler, Jr. is an experienced maritime attorney and is recognized as a Proctor-In-Admiralty by the Maritime Law Association of the United States. He has the helm of his own maritime law firm with its principal office in Newport, Rhode Island and which represents individuals and claima...

Admiralty attorney John K. Fulweiler's specialized knowledge in maritime personal injury and maritime death claims is well known. He has been interviewed by the New York Times and made appearances on various television news programs. He also writes a long standing column for WorkBoat Magazine an...

We used to send the newbies down the pier looking for bulkhead remover. It was a funny joke that never escalated beyond a collective laugh when the newbie returned swearing he'd looked all over and couldn't find any. Still, some shipboard situations aren't jokes and can put crew in those tough w...

Maritime injuries are different than injuries suffered ashore. Not only are they easier to suffer (think pitching vessels and saltwater-slick decks), but the remedies and processes to seek compensation are different. There's a lot of meat on this bone, but let's focus on two issues you might hav...

I took someone's deposition a month or so ago and they made some noise about knowing about me from my articles and it got me thinking that a prudent sailor should know a thing or two about depositions. A deposition is a form of discovery. Discovery is the process before a trial where each side e...

Let's face it; contracts are boring. There's no plot and they read like a confused sea. While you should always speak to your admiralty attorney, here are some common phrases and general information about they're meaning in the hope it'll help you the next time you scan a contract. 1. "Any and...

Whether on the dock or on the deck, there's always a lot of knowledge floating around. You likely give what the older guys or gals say more weight and maybe that's justified. As for me, I like to know for certain. Yea there's local knowledge that's not going to be printed up anywhere, but some s...

Defense attorneys when trying to protect an insurer's deep pockets (or, okay, their client's deep pockets) will sometimes "remove" a case from state court to federal court. "Removal" is a legal mechanism that when activated flips a plaintiff's lawsuit out of state court and into federal court. S...

Crew member's claims for unpaid wages remind me of the Dr. Seuss line about how business has got to grow, "regardless of crummies in tummies, you know!" Somehow those rhymes neatly capture how clinically businesses can operate all the while sailing past their legal obligations. Back in 1898, t...

I took someone's deposition a month or so ago and they made some noise about knowing about me from my articles and it got me thinking that a prudent sailor should know a thing or two about depositions. A deposition is a form of discovery. Discovery is the process before a trial where each side e...

Nothing is easy, right? Maybe the new hire just got popped for a DUI or maybe after the third trip up from the engine room, through the galley, over the rail and to the truck, you're trying to spin SAE with metric. I've huffed Marlboros wearing overalls and lawyered wearing suits and it's all th...

Today, the U.S. Coast Guard published an amalgamated version of the U.S. Inland Navigation Rules and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions as Sea, 1972. Prudent skippers know the Rules of the Road and with Fulweiler llc at your side, a prudent skipper can prosecute or defend cl...