Firm News

Wiggin and Dana’s Insurance Practice Group and Appellate Practice Group teamed up recently to file a successful amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on behalf of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU), the national trade association representing the United States ocean marine insurance industry. The brief supported the defendants-appellants, the owner and operator of an oil vessel and its P&I insurer, who had been sued by the federal government for reimbursement of the costs of an environmental restoration plan under the Oil Pollution Act relating to a grounding of the vessel. Although there were disputed issues as to whether the defendants were legally responsible for those costs, the federal district court in Puerto Rico granted summary judgment to the U.S., giving deference to the unilateral determination of a Coast Guard official (years after the grounding occurred).

On October 23, 2025, the First Circuit issued a decision in favor of the defendants and, consistent also with the position of the AIMU’s amicus brief, held that the U.S. must prove the defendants’ statutory responsibility in court, after an opportunity for discovery, rather than relying solely on the unilateral ruling of a military officer. Wiggin and Dana’s amicus brief for AIMU emphasized the negative impact of the district court’s deferential ruling on the marine insurance industry, where off-the-cuff decisions by a military officer can short-circuit due process and impose huge and unpredictable costs on insurers that cannot be properly underwritten, leading either to substantial premium increases or even the inability of vessels to obtain insurance, impeding maritime commerce.

Leading the effort on the amicus brief was Jeffrey R. Babbin of the Appellate Practice Group. This was the second successful appellate amicus brief filed by Wiggin and Dana for AIMU in the last couple of years.