Transportation & Energy Issues

Lawyer Helps Blow the Whistle on Alleged Cruise Ship Scammers

A personal injury lawyer from New York called police after he became suspicious of would-be clients who claimed their daughter and granddaughter died aboard the Costa Concordia. With lawyer Peter Ronai’s help, police arrested three Hungarians in the suspected scam, UPI reports. The New York Post and the New York…

Jan 25, 2012 1:36 PM CST

Captain Held in Fatal Cruise Liner Stunt Argued with Coast Guard About Leaving Ship, Reports Say

In a maritime tragedy that is increasingly sounding like a scenario out of a law school exam problem, the captain of a Carnival Cruise ship that ran aground and sank off the coast of Tuscany late on Friday is being questioned by Italian authorities in a possible manslaughter case. Capt.…

Jan 17, 2012 8:59 PM CST

Supreme Court to Decide Tax Fairness Case Involving Sewer Fee Forgiveness

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case involving the interplay of sewer taxes and the equal protection clause. At issue is whether the city of Indianapolis violated the equal protection clause when it forgave future payments by taxpayers paying a sewer hook-up fee in installments, but refused to issue…

Nov 14, 2011 6:43 PM CST

11th Circuit Nixes ‘Finders Keepers,’ Says Massive Treasure Trove from 1804 Shipwreck Goes to Spain

Some 17 tons of silver coins from the 1804 wartime shipwreck of a Spanish galleon must be returned to the government of Spain, which owns the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a federal court has ruled. Affirming a trial court’s decision, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held…

Sep 21, 2011 9:22 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Says He Dropped His Pants to Educate Teens Beats Obscenity Rap But Faces Discipline Case

An Ohio lawyer who says he dropped his pants on occasion in order to educate teens he was mentoring has been found incompetent to stand trial on misdemeanor obscenity charges. But Thomas Walkley, 53, now faces an attorney discipline case, reports the Akron Beacon Journal. He has also been placed…

Aug 2, 2011 5:04 PM CDT

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