Transportation & Energy Issues

Feds Ponder Possible Manslaughter and Perjury Charges in Gulf Oil Spill Case, Sources Tell AP

Department of Justice officials investigating the massive oil spill nearly a year ago in the Gulf of Mexico are considering possible perjury and manslaughter charges. However, unidentified sources also caution that the probe is not complete and that criminal charges, while possible, are far from certain, reports the Associated Press.…

Mar 29, 2011 9:30 PM CDT

Officials Don’t Play; They Say: Remove Grand Piano from Fla. Sandbar! But Salvager Gets There First

A baby grand piano gained fleeting global fame when it suddenly showed up on a sandbar in the midst of Biscayne Bay, off the coast of Florida. It reportedly became the backdrop for at least one fashion shoot, and gained a touch of elegance when someone set a candelabra on…

Jan 28, 2011 10:14 PM CST

Beauty Contest for Lead Lawyers in BP Oil Spill Suit Reels In ‘All the Big Fish’

Top trial lawyers from around the country are vying for a coveted spot among the 12 to 15 lead lawyers expected to be selected soon by a federal district court judge in Miami to oversee the massive tort litigation against BP PLC over its Gulf of Mexico oil spill last…

Oct 7, 2010 10:45 PM CDT

Girl, 16, on Solo Sail Round the World Is Found Alive After Being Feared Lost at Sea

Upated: A 16-year-old girl from California on a solo round-the-world sailing trip who had sent a distress signal to her family and was feared to be lost at sea in the frigid Southern Indian was Ocean was found unharmed late Thursday night. At around 4 a.m., California time Thursday, Abby…

Jun 10, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Potential Gulf Coast Oil Spill Litigation Has Lawyers in Frenzy

Internet domain names such as bigoilspills.com and highway billboards that read “Oil spill hurt your business?” have cropped up as lawyers rush to expand the size and scope of lawsuits arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as it spreads along the Gulf Coast. Last week, some lawyers hosted a…

Jun 2, 2010 11:44 AM CDT

Law Firm Warns Super-Yacht Owners: Beware of Ship Seizures in Italian Waters

A London law firm has issued a travel-advisory to super-wealthy clients planning to sail their super-yachts into Italian waters. Due to an apparent crackdown on suspected tax evaders as Italy struggles to deal with a budget deficit, even legitimate vessels under a Cayman Islands flag could be seized there for…

May 25, 2010 9:04 PM CDT

Frustration Over Uncontained Gulf Oil Spill—and Tort Claim Contingency Fees of Up to 50 Percent

As crude oil continues gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at a record-breaking rate from an undersea BP well, frustration with the situation is building. A little over a month after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and burned, killing 11 workers, it appears that a combination of factors ranging…

May 25, 2010 1:44 AM CDT

Avoid Chaos, Decide Now Where to Try Oil Spill Cases, Lawyer Urges Multidistrict Panel

As the tally of cases related to the still-gushing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico tops 100, a Louisiana lawyer today urged a panel of federal judges to decide quickly to consolidate the litigation and determine where it should be pursued. Although the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict…

May 20, 2010 12:08 AM CDT

Breyer Tells Cruise Line Operator that Everyone Makes Mistakes, His Wife Excepted

Justice Stephen G. Breyer challenged a lawyer for a cruise line operator during oral arguments Wednesday with a hypothetical that involved his wife’s driving instructions. The justices were considering whether a plaintiff who slipped and fell on a cruise ship should be allowed to sue, despite naming the wrong party,…

Apr 22, 2010 3:41 PM CDT

NTSB Thinks Lost Rudder Led to Fatal ‘Cemetery Sea’ Fishing Boat Accident

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board think a lost rudder caused a fishing boat to flood and sink in the Bering Sea off the coastline of Alaska last year, killing five of the 47 crew members aboard in an accident that was detailed in an ABA Journal cover story…

Sep 30, 2009 6:03 PM CDT

The Journal’s Sea Change

I write to compliment you on your excellent article on the Alaska fishing industry and its accident record, “The Cemetery Sea,” May. The extensive research writer Lynda Edwards did made your article informative, interesting and readable. Your article far exceeded the usual ABA Journal articles, which lack depth and background…

Jul 2, 2009 4:00 AM CDT

Makin’ ‘em Walk the Plank

Today’s pirates have more legal power than those of yesteryear

Jul 2, 2009 2:40 AM CDT

Financier Allen Stanford Hires Maritime Lawyers for Investment Fraud Case

Billionaire financier R. Allen Stanford has hired maritime lawyers to defend him on civil charges of running an $8 billion investment fraud. Stanford has hired lawyers from the Gulf Law Group in Washington, D.C., to help defend him on civil fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, reports…

Jun 9, 2009 12:19 PM CDT

PI Attorneys Sue Google Over ‘Adwords’ Sale of Law Firm Name to Competitor

Two Connecticut personal injury lawyers are suing Google, contending that the Internet search engine improperly sold advertising rights concerning their law firm name to a competitor. When Internet users type Stratton Faxon into the Google search engine, say plaintiffs Michael Stratton and Joel Faxon in the New Haven Superior Court…

May 27, 2009 10:01 PM CDT

The Cemetery Sea

A shipwreck, a mysterious owner and a 158-year-old maritime law

May 2, 2009 4:50 AM CDT