A Blank Rome team secured an appellate victory for Valero Refining – New Orleans (“VRNO”) when a panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision in the ARIS T case, effectively allowing VRNO to recover $18 million in damages from two towboat companies that contributed to an allision between the bulk carrier ARIS T and VRNO’s St. Charles Refinery dock.
The court’s decision was announced on January 24, 2022, and is available here.
The Blank Rome trial team was comprised of Keith Letourneau and Doug Shoemaker, who tried the case before the Eastern District of Louisiana in April and May 2019, and also handled the appeal together with Zachary Cain.