Month

September 2017
The United States Congress passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act in 1936. The purpose of COGSA was to establish a standardized set of definitions and rules to govern the terms and conditions used in ocean bills of lading. One of its key provisions, Section 4(5) limits a vessel’s liability for lost or damaged...
Until recently, inverse condemnation remained a relatively arcane area of California law. A spate of wildfires, spawning litigation by homeowners and their subrogating insurers, has breathed new life into this liability theory. Inverse condemnation is an eminent domain action initiated by the property owner, rather than the government. Essentially, it is unintended eminent domain-i.e., the...