Maritime Proctor Blog

In Part I of "A Fifth of Silence," we covered the wording and history behind the Fifth Amendment, as well as how a jury must evaluate a witness taking the Fifth in a criminal trial.  To recap … the jury cannot consider it at all in reaching their verdict.

In Part II, we turn to taking the Fifth in a civil lawsuit.  The results are vastly different.  We will also address a hypothetical and provide some practical tips when faced with this type of situation.

What Happens When a Witness Takes the Fifth in a Civil Matter?

If a witness takes the Fifth in a civil matter, the jury, under SCOTUS precedent from ...

About two months ago, I took my family on a Spring Break vacation to Estes Park, Colorado.  Up a hill and behind the Safeway in Estes Park was a large hotel, which I learned is the Stanley Hotel.  Built by the family that started Stanley Steamer, this hotel served as Stephen King’s inspiration for the Overlook Hotel, which is the setting of his 1977 novel The Shining.  Here is a photo I took of the Stanley Hotel on our trip.

Cinephiles know the late Stanley Kubrick was as an absolute perfectionist director.  For example, during the filming of the 1980 movie adaptation of The Shining, Kubrick ...

Lewis Black, the famous comedian, hypothesized in his 2002 comedy album “The End of the Universe” that the end of the universe was not far out in space.  Rather, it was in Houston, at the corner of West Gray and Shepherd. 

At that intersection, on the south side of West Gray was a Starbucks in a strip mall.  On the north side of West Gray is a stand-alone Starbucks.  Black even put a photo of both Starbucks on the cover of the album.

Later on, a Barnes & Noble was built on the north side of West Gray at the same intersection.  And inside the Barnes & Noble, with a view of both Starbucks was … another ...

We continue our discussion of one of the oldest remedies available to a personal injury plaintiff – that of maintenance and cure.

Last week, we began with an overview of maintenance and cure benefits, and analyzed a new Fifth Circuit decision concerning cross-claiming defendants and whether one had to partially or totally indemnify the other for payments made of maintenance and cure, even if the injury for which the payments were made was deemed unrelated to the accident giving rise to the litigation.  In the decision of In re 4-K Marine, L.L.C.,[1] the Fifth Circuit said such was not ...

It’s another #MaritimeMonday, so we will continue our discussion of maintenance and cure benefits.  Two weeks ago, we analyzed a recent decision from the Fifth Circuit – In re 4-K Marine, L.L.C.,[1] after a brief overview of the nuts and bolts of a maintenance and cure claim.  Last week we discussed defenses to a claim for maintenance and cure benefits.

Today, we focus on a framework articulated by the Fifth Circuit over 30 years ago – the three-tiered damages model for maintenance and cure.  Notably, the 4-K Marine panel reaffirmed the viability of that decision, Morales v. Garijak ...

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of recent posts on this page.  

Second, I want to take this opportunity to honor Professor David W. Robertson, who sadly passed away in late December 2018.  Professor Robertson, along with Professor Michael Sturley, taught me Admiralty law.  I was also lucky that he and I  kept in touch through work on the UT Law Admiralty and Maritime Law Conference over the years.

A link to his memorial page on the webpage of the University of Texas School of Law is here: