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COLUMN RESPONDER IMMUNITY or wrongful death, the plaintiffs’ allegations exposed the including the impact that this district court decision may responders to the current litigation. have on potential future litigation against responders fol-

Accordingly, despite the current decision, plaintiffs can lowing a spill incident based on these uncertainties. still sue responders for gross negligence or willful miscon- The Eastern District of Louisiana’s decision is a major duct. And they can still sue a responder for exposure to oil breakthrough with respect to responder immunity. Hope- or dispersants. As this is a district court decision, it provides fully, the remaining plaintiffs will be dismissed in short order no case law precedent with regard to future law suits, al- once the Motion for Summary Judgment brie? ng schedule though a court could decide to adopt the decision should is completed. Once this is completed, it may be time for a it choose to do so. There is no statutory presumption that NSA or U.S. GAO to conduct a study of the current state a responder was not grossly negligent in responding to an of affairs, including the recent court decision and costs/fees incident, thus placing the burden of proof on the plaintiffs associated with defending lawsuits ? led by plaintiffs against to prove otherwise. There is also no statutory provision that responders to assess whether more needs to be done to ensure would require plaintiffs to pay the costs of litigation if they for an immediate and effective response to spills in the future.

? le a frivolous case and lose which would strongly discour- age such suits. And lastly, it is unclear whether the court’s

Jonathan Waldron is a Partner at Blank Rome LLC and decision with regard to derivative immunity and preemp- concentrates his practice in maritime, international, and environmental law, including maritime security. Mr. tion will be applied in cases involving smaller spills in

Waldron is a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Mari- which the Federal On-Scene Coordinator take a more pas- time Academy where he teaches on legal issues related to sive monitoring role instead of directing all response efforts. pollution response and spill management teams. He is a

Accordingly, maybe the time is ripe to have the National member of the Maritime Law Association and frequently

Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) or the U.S. Government speaks and writes on maritime issues.

Accountability Of? ce (GAO) conduct a study of the issue,

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