Due to the rigors of the sea, long periods of time away from home and the whim of tyrannical captains, seafarers have historically been treated as ‘wards’ of the court and with the “tenderness of a guardian.”  Boulton v. Moore, 14 F.922, 926 (N.D. Ill. 1883).  However,...

The last day for 33 passengers and one crew member aboard the 75-foot w

ooden and  fiberglass dive boat CONCEPTION was Sept. 2, 2019. The vessel became engulfed in flames at 3 a.m. off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. with the full complement of passengers asleep and...

The captain wired in he had water comin’ in And
the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
- “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
  Song by Gordon Lightfoot

There is rarely a sole fau...

“From a tugboat, on the river going slow
A cement bag it is dropping on down . . .”
- “Mack the Knife
Song by Frank Sinatra

Like Frank Sinatra, the U.S. Supreme Court loves all things maritime.  So much so, that its first maritime contract dispute was decided in 1781....