Top NC Court to Decide: Did Lack of $30 Fishing License Preclude $910K Award for 883-Pound Marlin?

A monster catch in a North Carolina fishing contest has turned into a major legal case for the owners of the boat on which it was caught. The celebration aboard the charter boat Citation in June 2010, when an 883-pound blue marlin was hauled aboard after a five-hour battle, soon…

Jan 8, 2013 5:45 PM CST

Is Floating Home a Vessel Subject to Maritime Law? Justices Consider the Issue

Justices floated hypotheticals on Monday when they considered whether a floating home is a boat subject to federal maritime law. The Florida town of Riveria Beach maintains Fane Lozman’s home was violating marina safety regulations, and officials had the right under U.S. maritime law to tow away the vessel, report…

Oct 2, 2012 1:22 PM CDT

The Big Push: ABA Urges the Senate to Finally Ratify Law of the Sea Convention

Aug 1, 2012 5:50 AM CDT

Federal Judge Blasts US Prosecutors for ‘Unbelievably Inexcusable Behavior’ in Somali Piracy Case

Visibly angry and getting more so after learning shortly before trial that prosecutors could place a Somali piracy case defendant in international waters for only 24 to 28 minutes, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., gave them a piece of her mind. Saying that she was “misled” by a government…

Jul 23, 2012 10:11 PM CDT

Long-Stalled Law of the Sea Treaty, Dubbed ‘LOST’ by Critics, Is Back Before Senate

The Law of the Sea Treaty has won ratification by more than 160 nations, but the United States isn’t one of them. The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John Kerry, is trying once again to win ratification of the treaty negotiated 30 years ago, report the New…

May 25, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Federal Appeals Court Defines Piracy on the High Seas

A federal appeals court held Wednesday that an armed attack on a U.S. vessel can be considered piracy even if no one ever boards or robs the ship. The ruling by the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal gives prosecutors wider latitude to go after people who attack…

May 24, 2012 8:01 PM CDT

Captain Who Argued re Coast Guard Order to Reboard Grounded Concordia Liner Found Unfit to Command

The captain who made international headlines after a recording of a conversation in which he argued over and apparently refused a coast guard command to reboard the grounded Costa Concordia cruise ship went viral has been found unfit to command. The ruling Wednesday by Italy’s top appellate tribunal, the Court…

May 16, 2012 10:18 PM CDT

Tragic 100-Year-Old Shipwreck Was Titanic Failure of Government Regulation, WSJ Contributor Says

As the 100th anniversary looms of the shipwreck of the Titanic on its doomed maiden voyage—in which at least 1,500 people died after the massive ocean liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912 and went down in frigid waters—some of the simple facts that led to its destruction are…

Apr 13, 2012 5:19 PM CDT

Washed Away: As Sea Levels Rise, Island Nations Look to the Law to Fend off Extinction

The Marshall Islands—two roughly parallel chains of low-lying coral atolls that stretch across 800 miles just north of the equator—have an intensely close relationship with the Pacific Ocean that surrounds them. The full implications of that relationship were apparent in a student’s question for John M. Silk, who was serving…

Mar 1, 2012 11:19 AM CST

Constitutional Dilemma: The Power to Declare War Is Deeply Rooted in American History

Feb 1, 2012 11:35 AM CST

Lawyer Helps Blow the Whistle on Alleged Cruise Ship Scammers

A personal injury lawyer from New York called police after he became suspicious of would-be clients who claimed their daughter and granddaughter died aboard the Costa Concordia. With lawyer Peter Ronai’s help, police arrested three Hungarians in the suspected scam, UPI reports. The New York Post and the New York…

Jan 25, 2012 1:36 PM CST

Captain Held in Fatal Cruise Liner Stunt Argued with Coast Guard About Leaving Ship, Reports Say

In a maritime tragedy that is increasingly sounding like a scenario out of a law school exam problem, the captain of a Carnival Cruise ship that ran aground and sank off the coast of Tuscany late on Friday is being questioned by Italian authorities in a possible manslaughter case. Capt.…

Jan 17, 2012 8:59 PM CST

Supreme Court to Decide Tax Fairness Case Involving Sewer Fee Forgiveness

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case involving the interplay of sewer taxes and the equal protection clause. At issue is whether the city of Indianapolis violated the equal protection clause when it forgave future payments by taxpayers paying a sewer hook-up fee in installments, but refused to issue…

Nov 14, 2011 6:43 PM CST

11th Circuit Nixes ‘Finders Keepers,’ Says Massive Treasure Trove from 1804 Shipwreck Goes to Spain

Some 17 tons of silver coins from the 1804 wartime shipwreck of a Spanish galleon must be returned to the government of Spain, which owns the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a federal court has ruled. Affirming a trial court’s decision, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held…

Sep 21, 2011 9:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Says He Dropped His Pants to Educate Teens Beats Obscenity Rap But Faces Discipline Case

An Ohio lawyer who says he dropped his pants on occasion in order to educate teens he was mentoring has been found incompetent to stand trial on misdemeanor obscenity charges. But Thomas Walkley, 53, now faces an attorney discipline case, reports the Akron Beacon Journal. He has also been placed…

Aug 2, 2011 5:04 PM CDT