Florida seaman files Jones Act lawsuit against Houston company

9/27/2010 1:36 PM By Michelle Massey, East Texas Bureau A Florida seaman has filed a lawsuit against barge company claiming he was permanently injured. Robert Occhiogrosso filed suit against Maryland Marine Inc., doing business as Higman Barge Lines Inc., on Sept. 16 in the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. According to the lawsuit, the accident occurred on June 27, 2009, as Occhiogrosso was working as a member of the crew of the Tugboat Annopolis in Houston. He states the vessel's unsafe and unseaworthy conditions caused him to suffer permanent personal injuries to his body. Further, he states the accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant or the defendant's employees. The plaintiff is seeking more than $75,000 in damages for physical pain, mental anguish, loss of earnings, loss of earning capacity, medical expenses, loss of life's pleasures, loss of physical capacity, disfigurement, loss of ability to perform household services, interest and court costs. Occhiogrosso is represented by Harold Eisenman in Houston. Case No. 1:10-cv-00576

Transocean Can’t Cap Spill Liability Using Old Law, Lawyers Say

The below article is interesting. Transocean the owner of the rig is attempting to limit its liability to the value of the Deepwater Horizon after it sank to the bottom of the Gulf. The lawyers for the claimants are arguing that all the Transocean rigs are working as a "floatilla" and thus Transocean would have to post a bond for the value of 138 rigs or 23 Billion dollars. That could get very expensive for Transocean.

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Transocean Ltd. can’t use a 150-year- old statute to cap its liability against claims arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, lawyers for victims of the disaster said at a hearing in federal court in Houston. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, supersedes the older law in this situation, attorneys for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and the United Commercial Fisherman’s Association said in court papers, citing earlier decisions. Even under the old law, the negligence of BP and Transocean would make it inapplicable, plaintiffs’ lawyer Kurt Arnold told U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison.

'Daunting' oil spill threatens Florida - Florida Oil Spill Damage Lawyers

With an oil slick and tar balls just 50 miles offshore, Florida's top environmental official and other politicians say the state is bracing for pollution and damage to hit the state's beaches and its oyster, bait and sport fisheries. "It is an enormous mess. It is unbelievable -- the magnitude of this thing. Clearly every effort needs to be put on plugging the hole up and stopping the bleeding,'' Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said. Crist on Monday extended a state of emergency from the western Panhandle around the Big Bend as far south as Sarasota. The coastal counties added Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota due to the Deepwater Horizon Incident. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/03/1610698/daunting-oil-spill-threatens-florida.html#ixzz0mtWHXRKs

Lawyers flock to Gulf Coast for oil spill lawsuits

MIAMI — Teams of lawyers from around the nation are mobilizing for a gargantuan legal battle over the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, filing multiple lawsuits in recent days that together could dwarf the half-billion dollars awarded in the Exxon Valdez disaster two decades ago. If the oil slick fouls popular beaches, ruins fisheries and disrupts traffic on the Mississippi River, attorneys say there could be hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs from Texas to Florida seeking monetary damages from oil producer BP PLC and other companies that ran the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. At least 26 federal lawsuits have been filed since the spill by commercial fishermen, charter boat captains, resort management companies and individual property owners in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Many of the suits claim the disaster was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped a well — a process known as cementing. Halliburton denied that. Investigators are still looking into the cause.

Leading boating danger on Intracoastal Waterway: careless boating

PALM VALLEY- Careless boating is the leading infraction that boaters commit on the Palm Valley Intracoastal Waterway and it has sure taken its toll this year, a state official said this week. As of late May, three boating accidents have been reported on the waterway, compared to none as of this time last year, said Lt. Steve Zukowsky with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Boat's driver not intoxicated, lawyer says

Some of the passengers might have been drinking, but the person at the wheel of a 22-foot boat that crashed into an Intracoastal Waterway construction site Sunday wasn't intoxicated, an attorney representing three of the victims said Friday. A statement from the Medical Examiner's Office seems to back up the claim. Five people were killed and nine injured in the 7:15 p.m. wreck about a mile north of the Palm Valley Bridge. It started off as a Sunday cruise to St. Augustine. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard continued their joint investigation Friday into what caused the boat to veer into a 25-foot tugboat.

DNR inquiry of boating accident under way - infant injured

An infant remained in critical condition Friday as authorities continued to investigate what caused the deadly Georgetown County boating accident that injured the child and killed three others in the Waccamaw River.

Memorial Service Today For Missing Boater

A memorial service for a former University of South Florida football player lost during a boating accident in the Gulf last weekend will be held in Crystal River today. Family and friends will gather to remember Will Bleakley at 3 p.m. at Crystal River United Methodist Church.