Miami Shipping Law

A Restrictive Covenant is a specific type of covenant in which someone agrees to be restricted by a contract. The most common type of restrictive covenant is one in which a former employee is restricted from working in his or her field for a specific time and within a specific area after leaving employment. Restrictive covenant agreements often contain "tolling" provisions which extend the duration of the covenants by the time of any discovered violation. However there are occasions where employers do not include tolling provisions in their restrictive covenant agreements, but nevertheless subsequently request that a court use its discretion to extend the duration of those covenants by the time of  the discovered violation. A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit highlights the danger in not including a tolling provision in a restrictive covenant agreement. In EMC Corp. v. Arturi , ___ F.3d ___ (1st Cir. Aug. 26, 2011), EMC requested a prelim...

Today we celebrate IMO's World Maritime Day. This year is special given the goal of this day today in attracting public, private, and government attention to promote anti-piracy coordination and cooperation procedures between and among States, regions, organisations and industry. To mark this occasion, p iracy will be the focus of this year’s North American World Maritime Day Observance being held in Tampa, Florida on October 27th followed by a US Coast Guard Missions conference on October 28th which will feature panel discussions on the stewardship, safety and security missions of the Coast Guard.  Both events will be held at the Marriott Waterside in Tampa and are free and open to the public. North American regional representatives from industry, government and NGO’s will dialog on these critically important regional issues.  The events directly follow the USCG Flag Officer’s conference and Innovation Expo.  For information on attending this event, yo...

VIDEO: WWII-Era SS Gairsoppa Discovered Carrying 7 Million Ounces of Silver Maritime News Maritime Executive Magazine

The Daily Business Review has reported today that Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration has been ordered to turn over to the Spanish government 17 tons of silver coins and other treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007. The ship, reportedly the NUESTRA SENORA DE LAS MERCEDES, was sunk by British warships in the Atlantic in 1804 while sailing from South America with more than 200 people on board. In May 2007, Odyssey announced that it had recovered more than 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts from the wreck and flew the treasure back to Tampa. Spain went to federal court in Tampa claiming ownership over the treasure. Odyssey disputed the Spanish government's ownership of the valuable cargo. A federal judge sided with Spain in the first round of the tug-of-war in 2009, accepting the Spanish government's argument that it never surrendered ownership of the ship and its contents. Odyssey appealed before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Ci...

One of my fellow colleagues at Houck Anderson has provided me a copy of the American Tort Reform Foundation's 2010-2011 "Judicial Hellholes" piece. I recall reading the piece issued for 2009-2010, which ranked South Florida as the number one "Judicial Hellhole" in all of the United States. That is quite a notorious distinction that no jurisdiction wants. The 2009-2010 report can be found below at: http://www.atra.org/reports/hellholes/report.pdf This year, South Florida ranks as the number 4 "Judicial Hellhole" for all the United States. The report cites the Florida Legislature's passing of three laws: 1) a constructive notice requirement for slip-and-fall cases; 2) the approval of parents signing liability waivers on behalf of their minor child; and 3) caps on attorney's fees for attorneys that do work for the state. That report can be found by clicking below: http://www.judicialhellholes.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/JH2010.pdf Now, ...

You have not heard from me in over a week, as I have spent the last week in Sweden in advance of the Women's International Shipping and Trading Association's ("WISTA") International Conference & AGM in Stockholm, Sweden which was held September 14-16. In advance of the trip, I asked one of the Conference organizers (thank you Lena Gothberg!) to assist me in arranging business development visits in Sweden. It was this process of arranging these meetings with strangers that led me to what can best be described as an epiphany--with women reaching out and grabbing the most coveted jobs in the world, we need to work harder to support each other in making inroads in this male dominated industry. It first helps to consider the reasons behind the fact that this is a male dominated industry. There is certainly a lack of women as merchant mariners. Life onboard is tough for anyone--something that breaks even the most stoic individuals. I've been ...

Today, the Maritime Executive reports on our WISTA Florida Chapter meeting. The content of that article follows: On August 25, 2011 the Florida Chapter of the Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA)  held its monthly meeting at the Marshall Islands Registry’s office in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. International Registries, Inc. (IRI) and its affiliates provide administrative and technical support to the Maritime and Corporate Administrators of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The meeting was hosted by Gloria E. Roque the Assistant Vice President for Vessel Registration.  Despite of the shadow of Hurricane IRENE there was a great turnout of WISTA members from all walks of the maritime industry.  The guest speaker was Ashlie Megrichian, the Registry’s Licensing Manager of Yacht Operations.  Her presentation covered the process the crew goes through to get the correct licensing, endorsements, and proper training for their respective rating....