Another Court Finds Owner Snoozed on Right to Limit Liability

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Eckstein Marine Service L.L.C., et al. v. Jackson, Case No. 10-20600, held that the district court did not err in concluding that the six-month deadline to file a limitation action was triggered when claimant delivered his complaint to plaintiff on April 28, 2009, and that plaintiff's January 18, 2010 petition was untimely filed. The appellate court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it opted not to hold an evidentiary hearing on claimant's motion to dismiss. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.

This case arose when claimant served plaintiff with a complaint, alleging that his injuries were caused by the unseaworthiness of the M/V St. Andrew and by the negligence of plaintiff and its employees. Claimant became entangled in a line and was pulled into a mooring bit, seriously injuring his left leg. Following a state court trial, claimant won a judgment in excess of $750,000 and plaintiff subsequently appealed. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the district court's dismissal of its limitation action under the U.S. Limitation of Shipowner's Liability Act as untimely. Because a challenge to the timeliness of a limitation action was a challenge to the district court's subject matter jurisdiction and because plaintiff had notice claimant was mounting such a challenge in his motion to dismiss, the district court did not err by construing plaintiff's motion as a Rule 12(b)(1) jurisdictional attack.

A complete copy of the decision can be found at http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/10-20600/10-20600-2012-02-22.html.

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