The shipping industry scored a victory this week when the US Supreme Court ruled seafarers were barred from seeking punitive damages in unseaworthiness cases.
In a rare shipping-related decision, the court sided with the California marine construction company Dutra Group over Christopher Batterton in a 6-3 ruling that limits the legal liability shipowners face operating in the US.
"[The decision] means certainty," wrote William Wynne, a partner at law firm Jones Walker in New Orleans.
