Blog

A Taiwanese citizen sued the U.S.A. for killing her husband and sinking his fishing vessel in connection with a NATO counter-piracy initiative. That is, her husband was a hostage aboard his vessel which had been overrun by pirates when in the midst of an engagement with NATO forces he was killed...

This is a legal update from the bridge of Fulweiler llc. Lots of marine businesses include language in their maritime contracts stating "the general maritime law of the United States" applies to any disputes. A recent decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that in a particular di...

"Sue the cruise line," is what he says craning forward to chomp on something while pressing a cocktail against his chest. "Going out in weather like that. What? There's something like 4000 passengers on that thing, right? Class action is what you need to file." I nod in sage approval of the advi...

Sickened by dispersants used in the Deepwater Horizon clean-up? A February 16th ruling from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana probably just cut off your rights of recovery. In 32 pages of legal decision, the Court addressed the corporate defendants' argument that they shou...

Justice Scalia. Not sure I'm a fan of his reading the Constitution in an original textual context. Scalia's approach seems to encourage the devoted to give Deuteronomy a literal read! Anyway, I gunkholed my way through the admiralty law decisions Scalia was involved and here's a very slim review...

As a maritime lawyer with some fifteen years of water under my keel and another ten or so as a licensed captain, I'm always struck with the oddity of the tyranny that is shipyard life. The captain is king, overseer, parent and dictator. “Next after God,” is the old rubric and the word from the w...

Like many things associated with the maritime law, the statute of limitations (that period of time within which you must bring your claim) for maritime personal injury and death claims is specially regulated by federal law. You can find that law by using an internet search engine to search for “...

Defense attorneys trying to protect an insurer's deep pockets will sometimes "remove" a case from state court to federal. This "removal" is a legal mechanism that when pulled allows a defendant to move a lawsuit into federal court provided there's a basis for the suit to be in federal court. In ...

In a recent decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals (essentially the federal appellate court for New England) the doctrine of Uberrimae Fidei was held to be an important part of the maritime law. This doctrine of good faith allows a marine insurer to declare its policy void from incepti...

If you're a crewmember aboard a vessel, new changes to the ISM Code could prove beneficial. The ISM Code is short for the International Safety Management Code. The goals of the ISM Code are many and include ensuring safety at sea and the prevention of injury and loss of life. An amended paragrap...

If you ever need proof of the power of big money to influence legislation, there's hardly a better example than The Shipowner's Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C. 30501, et seq. Conceived to encourage investment in what had been a fledgling shipping industry, the Act allows a shipowner to se...

When you're injured on a boat in Rhode Island due to someone else's fault, you probably use a search engine like Google to find a boat lawyer. But be careful. Did this lawyer just put on his "sailor cap" or is he or she a maritime lawyer with real maritime experience? Does your lawyer know the b...

Read admiralty attorney John K. Fulweiler, Esq.'s newest article in WindCheck Magazine by clicking HERE. Remember, Fulweiler llc is a maritime law firm through and through. We don't represent insurers and we don't dabble in other legal areas. We are maritime and admiralty legal counsel. Our Mr...

Crewmembers are wards of the admiralty court. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. For instance, just a few years ago the 11th Circuit (which is always knee-deep in admiralty issues) said that commercial seamen are treated as wards of the court because they are vulnerable to exploitation by th...

Maritime Arbitration: 9 U.S. Code § 5 - Appointment of arbitrators or umpire Did you know that when the other side in a maritime arbitration won't appoint an arbitrator, the Court can do it for them? You see, the United States' Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16) is sort of like carbon ...

I sometimes envy the medical profession. For the most part, under a doctor's care you're healed or you die within a relatively short time, and the doctor moves on to his next dance partner. With the legal profession, well, litigation takes a long time and so a single lawsuit may outlive an attor...

Reports are rolling in of a ship off the coast of Florida with a crew largely incapcitated by food poisoning. Apparently the ship sought the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard and 19 crewmembers were airlifted to the mainland for treatment. Assuming there were facts in support (and it certainly ...

Yesterday, the admiralty bar lost an interesting, hardworking and important contributor. William Tetley was an admiralty lawyer practicing in Canada, an academic, a politician and author of numerous maritime law texts. I will remember Mr. Tetley for having so kindly responded to an inquiry I mad...

The international shipping newspaper, TradeWinds, published admiralty attorney John K. Fulweiler's opinion piece on the criminalization of a captain abandoning ship. Titled "Going Down to the Sea, but Not with the Ship," Newport, Rhode Island maritime attorney John Fulweiler explores the current...

Like a vessel's wake, a signature evidences your presence. In most commercial settings, a signature acts as an identifying mark as well as proof of consent to the terms of the document being signed. Still, a signature is so easily given that its power is often unappreciated giving rise to unexpe...

Nope, admiralty jurisdiction doesn't extend to a fist-fight on a dock. That's what the Second Circuit just ruled when they affirmed (meaning upheld) the trial court's decision. The facts don't suggest the best in people and involve allegations of one group laughing when someone fell into the wat...

When a ship fails to pay for fuel oil and marine gas oil, the supplier typically has a maritime lien against the ship. That is, instead of chasing the company that made the purchase, the ship itself offers a remedy and can be arrested and seized to foreclose the maritime lien. This was just such...

Baseball analogies seem right this time of year and so here it goes (in the voice of the Yankee's announcer, John Sterling, please): "And the 11th Circuit goes Boom! It is high, it is far and 'lo looks like the Supremes might be looking at this one." That's right, yesterday's 11th Circuit decisi...

Marina and yacht club fires are violent, usually swept into big blazes by the fast and hot burning fiberglass of nearby vessels spurred on by coastal breezes. I've been involved in a number of marina and yacht club fires and once the flames burn out leaving the charred remains, boat owners are s...

Claimants are sometimes prevented from having their claims decided by a jury through the use of a procedural device called "summary judgment." Under certain circumstances, a court can decide that the lack of a material factual dispute and/or the state of the law is such that a claimant's claim i...