Law Commons^™

The Uncertain Status Of The Puerto Rico Ports Authority: Working Towards A Uniform Arm-Of-The-State Test, Jessica Landry Wildeus

Law Student Publications

Many port authorities are allocated special status and therefore partake in the parent state’s Eleventh Amendment immunity as effective arms-of-the-state. This serves several important policy goals, yet the precedent surrounding the arm-of-the-state test is muddled. This results in different tests and standards, depending on the court hearing the case, leading to different results for different entities. The Port Authority of Puerto Rico (“PRPA”) is in an especially vulnerable situation, due to its dual function as a governmental and corporate entity. The unclear status of what role the function of an entity should play in determining its status under the Eleventh …

Bunker Intermediaries And Their Rights To A Maritime Lien Under Cimla, Chresanthe E. Staurulakis

Law Student Publications

Fuel intermediaries supply a valuable service in today’s shipping industry, playing a supporting role in the operation of cargo carriers, by box or in bulk. Working for the vessel, fuel intermediaries order “bunkers” from local physical suppliers and arrange for the suppliers to “stem” the vessel when she reaches the specified port. Such a service is crucial where vessels run international routes on tight schedules and risk delay due to language barriers, changes in currencies or changes in port requirements. Regarded within the industry as “local experts,” intermediaries leverage their knowledge, technology, resources and people to connect the vessel with …

Master Mariners And Their Maritime Law: A Book Review, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Sky Has Not Fallen Yet On Punitive Damages In Admiralty Cases, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

As surely everyone knows, the United States Supreme Court has recently brought the Due Process Clause to bear on awards of punitive damages made pursuant to state law. The law of the land now includes a judicially manageable standard that protects a defendant otherwise liable for punitive damages from awards that are so excessive as to be unfair, that is, arbitrary and capricious. Punitive damages are usually assessed by juries, subject to review by trial and appellate courts. This initiative has sparked considerable controversy, and the exact parameters of the constitutional standard are still far from certain Into this situation …

Brief Of Professors David J. Bederman Et Al. As Amici Curiae In Exxon Shipping Co. V. Baker, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

Amicus Curiae brief in support of Petition for Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States in Exxon Shipping v. Baker (the "Exxon Valdez" case).

From the statement of Interest of Amici Curiae:

Amici are law professors engaged in study of the admiralty and maritime law of the United States. They have published extensively about it, and currently teach or have spent their professional careers teaching, about it.

The only interest of amici is in optimal development of the body of U.S. law that governs in cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. Indeed, we differ on how various questions …

Brief Of Professors Francesco Berlingieri Et Al. A S Amici Curiae In Norfolk Southern Railway Co. V. James N. Kirby Pty . Ltd., John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

From the Summary of Argument:

In the twelve major commercial maritime nations represented by amici, a transport intermediary acts either as an agent or as a principal--depending on the facts of the case--and no legal rule requires an intermediary to act as an agent when it has not agreed to do so. When an intermediary acts as an "agent" to contract on behalf of its customer, the customer is bound by the contract between the intermediary agent and a third-party carrier, but when the intermediary assumes for itself the carrier's role in a contract with its customer, the customer will …

Brief Of Alain De Foucauld As Amicus Curiae In R.M.S. Titanic, Inc. V. The Wrecked And Abandoned Vessel, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

From the Summary of Argument:

The court below erred in its judgment that the procès verbal of October 20, 1993 should be refused recognition because it is contrary to French law. Article 13 of Decree No. 61-1547 (Dec. 21, 1961) does empower a maritime affairs administrator to award goods to a salvor under the conditions of this case, and there is no basis, in the record or in comity, for a conclusion to the contrary. Legislative acts in Canada and the United Kingdom affording administrative officers in those countries similar powers in cases of wreck and salvage persuade that, to …

Marine Collisions In The Vertical: Submarines Surfacing, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

Discussion of liabilities arising from maritime collisions involving surfacing submarines.

Into The Wind: Rhett Butler And The Law Of War At Sea, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, Prof. Jones reviews Scarlett O'Hara reported in the novel Gone with the Wind about Rhett Butler's career as a blockade runner for the Confederacy, and speculates about what the law of war at sea might have meant for Captain Butler's commercial operations. He focuses on three aspects of the law of war at sea-capture or prize, blockade, and neutrality.

Treasure Salvage And The United States Supreme Court: Issues Remaining After Brother Jonathan, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

On April 22, 1998, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in California v. Deep Sea Research, Inc., 1 a case of shipwreck salvage begun as a maritime action in rem. Because the Court does not often accept cases of admiralty and maritime law, its decision was eagerly anticipated by American maritime lawyers and constitutionalists, both for what it might say about the Eleventh Amendment and sovereign immunity in a federal system and how it might limit Congressional power to alter the general maritime law and admiralty jurisdiction. Also anxious for the Court's decision were the few maritime lawyers …

Review Of Robert M. Jarvis (Ed.), An Admiralty Law Anthology, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.