Navigable in Fact: Admiralty Jurisdiction in Midwestern Waters
Lawyers in jurisdictions that regularly see maritime cases can often skip a preliminary step: evaluating the body of water itself. For example, nobody disputes that a fishing accident in Buzzards Bay or a marina fire on Lake Pontchartrain occurs within federal waters. The nearby ocean and its industries import a presumption of admiralty jurisdiction. But […]
There is Another: Admiralty Jurisdiction and Jury Trials under 28 U.S.C. § 1873
An accepted rule in admiralty is that jury trials are the exception.[1] The most notable exceptions being cases brought through the Jones Act, or a plaintiff invoking the Savings to Suitors Clause. But a rare (and quite narrow) third exception also exists. And it’s of particular importance in the Midwest. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1873 […]
A Solution to the Single-Claimant Stipulation Problem – Roen Salvage Company v. Sarter
The stipulation preceding the district court’s stay of a limitation proceeding involving a single claimant is both simplistic formulism and the cause of prolonged headaches for maritime attorneys and courts. Too often attorneys treat the stipulation as being essentially outcome determinative, drafting redlines with bloated language designed to avoid every imagined loophole and seeking to […]
A Solution to the Single-Claimant Stipulation Problem – Roen Salvage Company v. Sarter
The stipulation preceding the district court’s stay of a limitation proceeding involving a single claimant is both simplistic formulism and the cause of prolonged headaches for maritime attorneys and courts. Too often attorneys treat the stipulation as being essentially outcome determinative, drafting redlines with bloated language designed to avoid every imagined loophole and seeking to […]
Welcome to Midwest Maritime Lawyer
Welcome to Midwest Maritime Lawyer! This publication is moored on a straightforward principle: admiralty and maritime law matters in the Midwest. By its very design, maritime law is universal, setting to apply a uniform legal regime to issues involving the navigable waterways of the United States. Geography dictates that these issues will arise most often […]