The Salty Barrister

Here's something to mull. What if you had a car accident, and your car insurer told you there wasn't coverage because the accident occurred in December? Or, how about your insurer told you, "Sorry, you were driving on I-95 at the time, and we only cover you on single lane roads." No, wait, wait . . . what if their attorneys sent you a letter stating that your policy was never in effect because your car wasn't in very good shape and had a broken rearview mirror? Come on! Here's one more . . . you get a call from the insurer and a nice fellow explains that there's no coverage because you weren't driving at the time of the accident, your wife was.

Silly stuff, huh? No insurer's going to act this way, right? Think again, my salty friend. In the maritime setting, I've personally evidenced each of these positions having been taken by insurers. Marine insurance policies are very different animals from their shore-based counterparts. There's exclusions of coverage, there's warranties and there's a layer of general maritime law interpreting it all. Auto insurance is written for the masses and legislation largely insures that most policies look the same, which isn't always the case with vessel insurance. Even I'm guilty of sometimes tossing my auto policy into the cabinet without a thorough reading, but not my marine policy. I read that sucker from beginning to end. I want to know what the insurer expects of me and what I'm getting for the check I wrote them. A marine insurance policy is typically going to have various exclusions limiting your vessel's use during certain periods of time as well as the geographic local you can navigate, and it just might have a named operator provision.

Oh, yeah, there's a lot of riprap to be on the lookout for in your insurance policy. Come to think of it, maybe next time I shop around for boat coverage, I'll get the broker to pass me a copy of the policy before I write that check.

Underway and making way.

--- JKF

This morning I was dealing with a case involving a Petition for Limitation of Liability. This is an area of the maritime law that'll make your trusts and estates lawyer's jaw drop. In fact, pretty much all attorneys who don't know about this little statute, will shake their head in wonderment when they hear about it.

Long story short, back in the day when shipping was getting on its feet, everyone came to realize that a boat could do a lot of damage, which could translate into lots of owner liability. Congress wanted to promote shipping, so it adopted a law which -- in very broad terms -- allows a vessel owner to limit its liability as the result of an accident to the post-casualty value of its vessel under certain circumstances.

Again, broadly speaking, if a vessel hits a dock and causes a lot damages, you'll probably see a petition for limitation of liability being filed looking to, well, limit the owner's liability. The big battleground usually involves a determination of whether the owner had knowledge of what caused the incident. These can be complicated cases with lots of procedural and factual issues. Interesting stuff, though. And, yes, the statute can apply in the context of recreational boats.

Whether you prefer the helm of a powerboat or a sailboat's tiller, when you push off the shoreline, things sure do change a lot. No more hiss of I-95 or drone of a lawnmower. Nope, you're in a whole different universe. I've always liked that aspect of being on a boat.

Boating's got rules, though, and you'd better know them or risk big problems. For instance, did you know that boats over 39.4 feet (12 meters) must to keep a copy of the International and Inland Navigation Rules of the Road aboard? Probably not a bad idea, no matter what size of boat you're running around in . . . ok, ok, dinghy, Sunfish, Laser... I agree, they're too wet and too small for it to be much help.

I'll be blogging a lot about rules (some obscure, some just common sense) over the coming weeks and months, and how maritime law applies those rules.

The first day of the blog.  I have an image of wooden blocks being tugged free, blog tilting toward channel, and then a hurtling rush ending with a spray of water.  In other words, we just got launched and we're bobbing cheerfully next to the pier.
I'm a maritime attorney with a practice in New York and offices up and down the East Coast.  In fact, we're just opening an office in Newport, RI.  I grew up in Rhode Island so I have a soft-spot for its coastline, Del's, Johnny-Cakes, the whole bit.  I like driving boats and did so commercially up through college.  I still keep my license current in case one day, as I tell my wife sometimes after a couple of beers, I decide to leave the office life behind!  My thanks to Safe/Sea for inviting me to post my occasional musings, and my aim is to share some of the legal oddities that the maritime law offers and which make the practice interesting.

-Underway & Making Way,
JKF