MARITIME LAWYER NEWS

Posts Tagged ‘Texas Maritime Lawyer’

WASHINGTON — Louisiana appears to be the frontrunner in a senate compromise proposal of the plan to distribute Clean Water Act fine money and is likely to get the biggest chunk of remaining money, which is largely reserved for environmental restoration.

Mary Landrieu, D-Senator from Louisiana, announces compromise on oil spill fine legislation.

Negotiations, which have stalled over the past several months on how to distribute billions of dollars in expected oil spill fine revenue largely over a fight among the states in order to get as much money as possible, appears to have reached a conclusion. ... Read Full Story

HOUSTON, TX – On PBS Newshour, Hari Sreenivasan conducts an interview with Chris Choy, his wife, Monica and his attorney, maritime lawyer Steve Gordon.

Maritime lawyer Steve Gordon on PBS Newshour interview with Hari Sreenivasan

One Year Later after the explosion, fire and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, oil rig worker, Chris Choy has had no income and his case is stalled in Federal Court. ... Read Full Story

HOUSTON, TX – In a speech at a major oil industry conference held Tuesday, March 8, in Houston, BP CEO Robert Dudley apologized for the worst oil spill disaster created in the history of the United States.

“This is the first chance I have had to address such a large gathering of industry colleagues and the first thing I want to say is that I am sorry for what happened last year,” Dudley told the CERAWeek conference in a speech titled “New Era, New Responsibilities.”
... Read Full Story

KENNER, LA – John Guide, BP wells team leader, answered questions at the Deepwater Horizon joint investigation hearings held Thursday, July 22, at the Radisson Hotel by the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigating the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20.

John Guide, BP wells team leader, answers question during the Deepwater Horizon joint investigation hearings at the Radisson Hotel in Kenner. PHOTO: Brett Duke / The Times-Picayune

A top BP official on the Deepwater Horizon rig at the time of the massive explosions April 20 questioned why company executives in Houston combined two processes on their troubled well, suggesting the bosses were trying to “save time.” ... Read Full Story

KENNER, LA. – Witnesses thought to have sensitive information had little to say at the Deepwater Horizon disaster hearings conducted Tuesday, July 20, by a joint investigative board of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service.

At the end of Tuesday’s hearings, lawyers for all four witnesses who had been scheduled to testify Wednesday notified the board that those witnesses were declining to appear. The witnesses, from Transocean, had been scheduled to discuss the blowout preventer. They were issued subpoenas, but the board could not compel them to appear because they did not reside within the geographic jurisdiction of the investigation, the board said in a statement. ... Read Full Story

HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS – Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP, maritime lawyers, represent a 45 year old shrimper from Palacios, Texas, who was working in the Gulf of Mexico when he sustained injuries to his back and body in general due to the negligence of Mr. Craig Wallis, owner and operator of M/V Miss Sonia. The incident occurred on February 5, 2010,

Plaintiff:

The plaintiff was employed by Craig A. Wallis as a seaman and was a member of the crew on-board the M/V Miss Sonia. At the time of this incident, the plaintiff was acting as Captain of this shrimp boat. While shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico, a rope and net became caught in the vessel’s propeller. The plaintiff was attempting to free the rope and net from the propeller when he slipped on the oily deck of this vessel, seriously injuring himself.

The plaintiff sustained a 4-mm disc herniation at L4-5. He has not been able to return to work since this incident due to the injuries he sustained.

Defendant:

Mr. Craig Wallis owned and operated the M/V Miss Sonia at the time of this incident. Mr. Wallis lives in Palacios, Texas

Comments:

There are dangers and consequences involved aboard shrimp boats: limbs can become tangled and amputated in nets, crewmen can be lost overboard, or sometimes owners are more focused on profit than the safety of the crew.

Shrimp boat workers in the United States are often protected under the Jones Act when injured. While originally written to protect merchant seaman, it also protects oil rig workers, shrimp boat fisherman, water ferry operators, and many others. Like workers’ compensation, an injured seaman is entitled to maintenance and cure compensation for lost wages and medical care. Unlike workers’ compensation, an injured seaman can sue their employer when negligence caused the accident.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – As a BP contractor and liaison, Adam Dillon had rebuffed reporters’ attempts to observe cleanup operations in Grand Isle, LA, in June, before being promoted to the BP Command Center near Houma, LA.

Ex-BP employee, Adam Dillion, becomes BP whistleblower

At the command center BP manages the private contractors running practically every aspect of the spill response. Dillon, a former U.S. Army Special Operations soldier, “has lost faith in the company in charge.” ... Read Full Story

John Conyers, Chairman of The House Judiciary Committee

(Washington D.C.) – Today, House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5503, Securing Protections for the Injured from Limitations on Liability Act (SPILL Act). After considering a morning’s worth of amendments from both sides of the aisle, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5503 by a roll call vote of 16-11, with two Republicans, Reps. Lungren (R-Calif.) and Rooney (R-Fla.), joining the rest of the Democratic committee members in voting in favor of passing the bill.

“I am very pleased that we can finally move a step closer towards making sure that the Gulf Coast Oil Spill victims and their families are cared for during these devastating times,” Conyers said. “Moving forward, we must ensure that families receive relief and compensation in a timely matter with as little further disruption to their lives as possible.” ... Read Full Story

CNN’s Anderson Cooper of AC360, spoke with Steve Gordon, attorney for rig survivors of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, in an exclusive interview which aired June 8, 2010.

Anderson Cooper of AC360 interviews Steve Gordon, attorney for rig survivors

In the one on one interview, Gordon states, “I’ve seen negligence, I’ve seen gross negligence, and this conduct is criminal what they did”….”There’s a crime scene sitting 5000 feet below the water – really …. you heard them (the survivors) say there was a lot of gas on this well and then you heard them (my clients) say that BP came in and overrode the decision of the driller at Transocean and the decision of the OIM.” ... Read Full Story

Attorneys, Todd Elias and Steve Gordon

Welcome to Maritime Lawyer News, a blog published by the law firm of Gordon, Elias & Seely, LLP. Here you will find up to date maritime news stories and information about maritime law and the Jones Act.

Our Jones Act lawyers work with seamen and longshoremen from Alaska to the oil rich Gulf Coast. With 50 years combined experience, we work with seamen putting the full force of the Jones Act to work for injured workers on US flagged vessels ... Read Full Story