Miami Shipping Law

In World Wide Supply OU v. Quail Cruises Ship Management , Case No. 14-14838 (11th Cir. Sept. 30, 2015), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s order vacating an attachment of legal settlement funds.  At issue in this appeal was an attachment of property made pursuant to Supplemental Admiralty Rule B. This appeal had a complicated background, involving multiple lawsuits in federal district courts, Florida state court, and a Spanish bankruptcy court. The common denominator of these suits was Quail Cruises Ship Management, from which multiple parties, including participants in the appeal, tried to collect money that they believed Quail owed them. This is not surprising, as there have been numerous cases against Quail due to a failed cruise venture they operated. The money at issue arose from the legal settlement of a dispute over the purchase of a cruise ship featured on ABC Television Network’s long-running series, The Love Boat. The ...

On September 18, 2015, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Commerce announced additional revisions to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  The changes take effect on Monday, September 21, 2015, as published in the Federal Register.  These measures are intended generally to do the following:    to further facilitate travel to Cuba for authorized purposes; expand the telecommunications and internet-based services general licenses, including by authorizing certain persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction (which includes individuals and entities) to establish a business presence in Cuba, such as through subsidiaries or joint ventures; allow certain persons to establish a physical presence, such as an office or other facility in Cuba to facilitate authorized transactions; allow certain persons to open and maintain bank accounts in Cuba to use for authorized purposes; ...

In Celebrity Cruises, Inc. v. Rankin, et al , No. 3D14-3137 (Fla. 3d DCA Sept. 16, 2015), Celebrity failed to stave off a class certification case filed by a group of cruise ship doctors suing the company for breach of contract. The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court decision certifying a class of about 41 doctors who claim they are owed commissions from medication sales.     The Miami-based cruise line owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. argued each doctor's understanding of the contract would overwhelm issues common to the class. The court disagreed, finding that common issues dominated individual issues because the class members were all "beneficiaries of [an] identical written contractual provision." The order included an excerpt from Celebrity management's internal emails that stated, "According to the signed contracts, physicians' commission should be on total medical revenue (procedure and medication sales) as o...

In St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. v. Abhe & Svoboda, Inc ., No. 14-2234 (8th Cir. Aug. 20, 2015), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that reliance is an element of the defense of uberrimae fidei . Prior to Abhe , only the Second Circuit had so held.  This case is extremely important to insurers and should be required reading for marine insurers and their coverage counsel.       Abhe, an industrial painting contractor, used stationary leased barges as platforms while painting Pell Bridge over Narragansett Bay. Abhe changed insurance carriers three months into the project. St. Paul Fire did not request that Abhe complete an application, but accepted the application provided to its previous insurer in 2010. The attached schedule of vessels was outdated and did not include vessels leased for the Pell Bridge project. Abhe sent St. Paul an updated schedule in 2011, listing those vessels, but did not provide a 2010 survey that showed that...

In Palm Beach Polo Holdings v. Broward Marine , 40 Fla. Law Weekly D1932 (Fla. 4th DCA Aug. 19, 2015), t he issue of whether the underlying claim was barred by the statute of limitations was memorialized in the pretrial stipulation entered between the parties. By definition and policy, this should have been considered a matter officially at issue in dispute during the trial. However, the trial court concluded that because the relevant statute was not framed in the preliminary instructions to the jury and because the appellants did not argue it in their opening statement, the defense was not properly raised and was waived. The Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeals disagreed. It took the opportunity to remind judges and litigators that the document upon which all parties can always rely on is the Pretrial Stipulation. The appellate court observed that any previous disputes or contentious pretrial issues become mostly irrelevant once the parties prepare and ...

It is reported that a Palm Beach County yacht broker received a license issued by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") to operate a 78-foot yacht between the United States and Cuba. Paul Madden, a longtime luxury yacht broker with Paul Madden Associates LLC, reportedly received the license on July 1 and the vessel is already scheduled to carry and documentary filmmaker and a Wall Street Journal reporter, along with other passengers.       As previously reported in my blog, several other vessel operators have received OFAC licenses to operate to Cuba, including Carnival Cruise Lines. Cruise and ferry companies have applied for government licenses to sail to Cuba since the Obama administration restored diplomatic ties with Cuba and loosened rules for U.S. travel to the island. Carnival is the first cruise line to obtain a license, which plans to start service in May.   But the 78-foot yacht will reportedly be the fir...

It is reported that less than two weeks after agreeing to try to hammer out a deal, Key Biscayne has filed a third lawsuit over Miami's plan to redevelop Virginia Key. The June 25th petition filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court is looking to push back the construction that the City of Miami is pursuing around the decaying Miami Marine Stadium. In one corner, Miami plans to spend $16 million to turn the entrance and several vacant parcels next to the waterfront stadium into a "flex park" capable of hosting large events. Because some of the construction is on historically designated stadium grounds, the City obtained a special dispensation from the historic preservation board and the City Commission in May. In the other corner, the Village of Key Biscayne maintains that the special dispensation was improvidently granted. The Village claims Miami officials prevented the board from hearing evidence about future uses in violation of Miami's own code. Key Bi...