Eleventh Circuit Rules on Contract Rescission March 31, 2011

ODYSSEY MARINE EXPLORATION, INC., et al., v. THE UNIDENTIFIED, SHIPWRECKED VESSEL OR VESSELS, 22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C1938a (11th Cir. Mar. 31, 2011):

Admiralty -- Property lost at sea -- Sunken vessel -- Contracts -- Rescission -- Researcher of sunken vessels seeks rescission of written contract in which deep sea exploration and recovery corporation agreed to pay plaintiff cash sum as “payment in full” for his research file concerning location of potentially highly valuable sunken Spanish cargo vessel -- Jurisdiction -- Error to dismiss plaintiff's claim for contract rescission based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction -- Claim is properly cognizable under federal admiralty jurisdiction -- Contracts to provide specific research to assist in locating and recovering a sunken vessel are maritime in nature -- Admiralty jurisdiction is proper where parties are litigating their rights to treasure found on sunken vessel

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