In this article - part of Lewis Brisbois' Marine & Energy newsletter, The Lookout - San Francisco Partner David E. Russo provides some thoughts on two areas of importance to the maritime industry - automonomous ships and offshore wind development.

In 1851, the Limitation of Liability Act was passed in the U.S., which (among other things) applied to oil spills from vessels. Vessel owners were liable for incident-related costs only up to the post-incident value of the vessel. In 1924, Congress passed the first Oil Pollution Act, expanding vessel owner liability for intentional/deliberate discharges. Two very infamous and world-shocking incidents later evidenced the issues with this limited oil spill liability.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently overturned its own 2012 precedent in an admiralty case, finding a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court ruling superseded its previous case law.

On October 1, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 447, which amends California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.34. This new law allows recovery of damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement by a decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest, by way of a survival action, following the death of the decedent.

Respondeat superior claims in Georgia continue to be a hot button topic. Several key legal updates occurred, which swung the needle in both directions, affecting both liberal and conservative applications of the claim.

The New York legal community is closely following the status of Bill S74A, also known as the Grieving Families Act. As discussed in our previous update, if signed into law, the Act would greatly increase the recoverable damages in wrongful death actions and, as written, would have retroactive effect on all pending lawsuits in the state.