With regard to a claim filed under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (the Act), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals , in a decision not designated for publication, held that it was within the discretion of the Benefits Review Board... Read More
An employer was collaterally estopped from litigating the issue of causation with respect to a death benefits claim filed by the widow of a worker who had been exposed to asbestos during his employment where that issue had already been litigated between... Read More
By Stephen C. Embry, Esq., Embry and Neusner The Supreme Court on June 21, 2018 rendered a decision in Lucia et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission, __ U.S. __, 2018 U.S. LEXIS 3836 , No. 17-130, which may have significant impact on the role that... Read More
By Yelena Zaslavskaya, Senior Attorney for Longshore, Office of Administrative Law Judges, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. Section 2(10) of the Longshore Act defines “disability” as “incapacity because of injury to earn... Read More
By Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq., General Counsel, MEDVAL, LLC Medicare set-asides have become an albatross for all insurers. And despite all their efforts to do exactly what CMS wants in the interest of protecting the Medicare Trust funds, CMS is constantly... Read More
By Monica F. Markovich and Jonathan A. Tweedy, Brown Sims, P.C., Houston, Texas[fn1] Section 905(a) limits the liability of an employer and its insurance carrier for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA... Read More
By Yelena Zaslavskaya, Senior Attorney for Longshore Office of Administrative Law Judges, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. Relevant Precedent [fn1] Case precedent prescribes the rules for identifying the responsible employer/carrier in cases... Read More
The Challenge of Efficient and Informal Discovery Versus Privacy By Steven M. Birnbaum, Law Offices of Steven M. Birnbaum, San Rafael, California Increasingly, even though the Office of Administrative Law Judges has a rather simple procedure for... Read More
Loyola University Law School Presents Its Annual Longshore Conference in Conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor, March 15-16, 2018 By Ralph R. Lorberbaum, Zipperer, Lorberbaum & Beauvais, Savannah, Georgia Well, it is March in New Orleans... Read More
At the Roberts Argument, SCOTUS Tries to “Make Sense” of Section 906(c) By: Jon B. Robinson[fn1] I. Introduction: On January 11, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. ... Read More
An offshore oil platform nicknamed “Big Foot” was not a “vessel” since it had no means of self-propulsion, had no steering mechanism or rudder, and had an unraked bow, held the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Noting also that the... Read More
By Paul B. Howell, Franke & Salloum, PLLC, Gulfport, Mississippi Most cases under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.S. § 901 , et seq. , involve the issue of a claimant's entitlement to disability. Disability... Read More
By Thomas C. Fitzhugh III, Fitzhugh & Elliott, P.C., Houston, Texas The comment period for proposed new regulations for ALJ proceedings closed more than two years ago. For months we were promised that the new rules would be forthcoming “soon... Read More
By Karen Koenig, Associate General Counsel, Longshore, Benefits Review Board, United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. BRB Statistical Update The Board began this fiscal year in October 2011 with 148 pending Longshore appeals. During the... Read More
Thomas C. Fitzhugh, III, Fitzhugh & Elliott, P.C., Houston, Texas, addresses a case on the Supreme Court's upcoming docket that directly addresses concerns of the Longshore community: Valladolid v. Pacific Operations Offshore, LLP , 604 F.3d 1126... Read More