A Lynchburg U.S. District Court declines to dismiss a South African freight-forwarding company’s suit against defendant, a Lynchburg company that imports and sells linens, for failure to pay for an international shipment of hotel bed linens; the dispute falls within ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court conveys title to the artifacts salvaged from the R.M.S. Titanic to R.M.S. Titanic Inc., but such title is fully subject to the covenants and conditions that the U.S., through the U.S. Attorney, negotiated and finalized ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court denies a tug boat owner’s claim for exoneration from liability, but grants the owner’s claim for limitation of liability under the Limitation of Liability Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30501 et seq., and awards the U.S. ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Filipino seaman who suffered devastating injuries while working aboard the Asian Spirit vessel in the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore must arbitrate his claims against the vessel owner and additional defendants; the 4th Circuit affirms the arbitration decision but vacates ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Robert B. King

In this suit against John Crane Inc. by the widow of a Navy sailor who died of mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos while working as a ship fitter, the widow may not collect nonpecuniary damages of $2 million for the ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Justice Donald W. Lemons Supreme Court of Virginia

Invoking the Supreme Court’s warning against “drive-by jurisdictional rulings,” the 4th Circuit sorts out the differences between motions under 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) and reverses the district court’s dismissal of a Jones Act claim, saying plaintiff’s allegation of injury to his ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

The Norfolk U.S. District Court held a boating accident victim could demand a jury trial in his amended complaint against two boat operators; the “saving-to suitors” clause in 28 USC § 1333(1) preserves the common law remedy in general maritime ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Douglas E. Miller U.S. District Court - Eastern District

(AP) Items as small as a hairpin and as big as a chunk of the Titanic’s hull are among 5,000 artifacts from the world’s most famous shipwreck that are to be auctioned in April, close to the 100th anniversary of ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Federal Courts Judge Rebecca Beach Smith

When the captain of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel fell asleep at the wheel and struck plaintiff’s 70-foot yacht, the Marquessa, docked at the pier at Ocean Marine marina in Portsmouth, the yacht was a constructive total loss ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Admiralty Judge Allyson K. Duncan

An injured crew member who elected to sever his admiralty claim to preserve his a punitive damages claim is not entitled to a federal jury trial after recovering a $538,152 jury verdict in his state court negligence action, the Richmond ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District