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New Article Published on Service of Process on Foreign Corporations
The South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business recently published on article by Julius "Sam" Hines on the issue of substituted service on foreign corporations. Of potential interest to non-US shipping companies touching at South Carolina ports, the piece...
New Marine Insurance Case from Supreme Court
A unanimous United States Supreme Court today decided an important question of marine insurance law. In Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, the Court held that choice of law clauses in marine insurance contracts are presumptively enforceable....
Arbitration—In South Carolina, No End Run Around the Interstate Commerce Requirement of the Federal Arbitration Act
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently nixed an argument to get around the Federal Arbitration Act’s requirement of a transaction involving interstate or international commerce. The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), originally passed in 1925, makes arbitration...
Who Needs a Captain? Part 2
A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit again took up the issue of compliance with a captain’s warranty in Serendipity at Sea, LLC v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London. In that case, the LLC owner of the yacht Serendipity took out a...
Honored to join SC Bar International Law Committee Panel
It was a privilege to participate in a panel discussion at this year's meeting of the South Carolina Bar International Law Committee. The panel was held at the 2022 South Carolina Bar Convention in Greenville, South Carolina. Here is a link to a paper on current...
Who Steers the Ship? The Limited Duties of a Time Charterer
A federal appeals court recently reaffirmed the limited duties of a time charterer with respect to vessel mishaps that may occur in the course of the charter. For those unfamiliar with the business of ship chartering, a “time charter” is one in which the charterer...
COVID-19 and Cruise Ship Forum Selection Clauses
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit today decided another cruise ship forum selection clause case, this time with an outbreak of COVID-19 looming in the background. In Turner v. Costa Crociere S.P.A., plaintiff Turner contracted COVID-19 in the...
New Eleventh Circuit Longshore Injury Case
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed the rule that a longshoreman cannot sue a vessel owner for injuries sustained as a result of an "open and obvious" condition. In Troutman v. Seaboard Atlantic Ltd., handed down today, a longshoreman...
Marine Insurance Warranties: Who Needs a Captain?
A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit just took aim at an old U.S. Supreme Court precedent in a recent decision involving the loss of a pleasure vessel during a recent hurricane. In Travelers Property Casualty Company of America v....
Athos I: New “Safe Berth” Case from SCOTUS
One theme in the law is the way older commercial concepts often take on an enlarged role in civil litigation. One example is the shipowner's duty to provide a seaworthy vessel to someone who signs on as crew. The oldest cases treat this duty as a sort of "condition...