I’d like to remind everyone about the Defense Base Act (DBA). We last looked at it here in February, 2010, so it’s time for another review. First, an update on claims reported under the DBA:...

It’s a common observation among employers, insurance carriers, and the defense bar that the Longshore Act is interpreted too liberally in favor of injured workers. Let’s assume that this observation...

I’m three miles away from the water. I can’t possibly need USL&H insurance!” Don’t be too sure. Let’s talk about situs, again (see previous discussions, for example, October 12, 2011). By way of...

I will now attempt to discuss workers’ compensation coverage under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). Let’s start in 1953. Oil and gas exploration off the coasts of the United States...

Previously, we discussed fights at work, and we recognized that fighting employees can quickly become workers’ compensation claimants. It would be helpful here if you referred back to the discussion...

I’d like to discuss a contentious issue: fights at work between coworkers. In the process we’ll see two more examples of the application of the Section 20 presumptions. It is obviously a problem...

What is a “vessel”? This is anything but a simple question, especially at the fringes of any attempt at an all inclusive definition. If you write marine insurance exposures, whether inland or...

INSOLVENCY – PART FOUR Upon default on the payment of benefits (not the filing of a petition in Bankruptcy Court), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will seize the self-insurer’s security deposit....

Section 20(a) of the Longshore Act (33 U.S.C. 920(a)) states: In any proceeding for the enforcement of a claim for compensation under this Act it shall be presumed, in the absence of substantial...

INSOLVENCY - PART THREE We’ve previously looked at what happens when an insurance carrier defaults on the payment of benefits due to insolvency (Part One) and what happens when both the insurance...

Maritime employers have received some good news, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 20, 2012, the court issued its decision in the case of Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc., et al., a...

Virginia is in the process of doing something fair and reasonable for the maritime employers in the State. On February 28, 2012, the state legislature completed the process of passing a Bill that...

I’ve been posting discussions about the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act since April 20, 2009. I think it’s about time that I summarize what the Act provides by way of compensation...

Some questions come up over and over again. One such question involves foreign workers and/or foreign employers in the United States. Does the Longshore Act cover foreign workers? Does the Longshore...

Back on August 31, 2011, in Insolvency – Part One, we considered the circumstances where the insurance carrier was insolvent but the insured employer was solvent, and we concluded that if the...

On January 11, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. et al. I’ve discussed the Roberts case here on the AEU Longshore blog on December...

Oral argument will be held today at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc. et al., which I briefly mentioned here last week. Following is a fuller discussion of the...

On December 30, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published final regulations (at 20 CFR Part 701) implementing the amendment to section 902(3)(F) that was contained in the American Recovery...

Back on March 14, 2011, I mentioned that an Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act case (OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) was at the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether and where there is a situs of...

Reminder: What follows are some observations and a summary of general principles based on my reading of the statute, regulations and case law. Obviously, such statements of general principles and...