News & Events

NBF attorneys Rivers Black and Chris Reilly attended the annual dinner and auction hosted by the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owner’s Association at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club in Seattle, Washington.

NBF attorney Larry E. Altenbrun is accepted for admittance to the Oregon State Bar.

NBF attorneys Chris Nicoll and Noah Jaffe co-authored an amicus brief submitted to the Washington Supreme Court on behalf of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association in Dean v. The Fishing Company of Alaska, Inc., et al.  Dean was an injured seaman who received the general maritime remedies of maintenance and cure for several years, until the vessel owner’s doctor determined that he had reached maximum medical cure and his payments should be discontinued. Dean filed a pretrial motion for summary judgment seeking reinstatement of his remedies. The issue on appeal was what standard of review the court was to apply: the summary judgment standard, requiring all doubts to be resolved in the vessel owner’s favor as the non-moving party; or whether the burden of proof should be altered for such motions and doubts resolved in favor of the seaman.

NBF attorney Curt H. Feig provided the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association with a presentation on the topic of the recent Washington Supreme Court ruling Cedell v. Farmers Ins Co of Wash, 176 Wn.2d 686, 295 P.3d 239 (2013) at its annual insurance law meeting in Seattle.

NBF attorneys Christopher W. Nicoll and Michael A. Guadagno provided the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association with a presentation on the topics of same sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana at its annual insurance law meeting in Seattle.

NBF attorneys Rivers Black and Jeremy Jones attended the 24th Tulane Admiralty Law Institute at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

NBF attorney Michael A. Guadagno facilitated an 8th grade mock trial at the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington before Judge John C. Coughenour.

The Washington Supreme Court denied review in the matter of James Schibel and Patti Schibel v. Leroy Johnson. The result validates the dismissal obtained by our client (Mr. Johnson) before trial in the Spokane Superior Court in November 2010. The case was handled by attorneys Curt Feig and Chris Reilly and paralegal Jeanette Hendricks.

NBF lawyers Chris Reilly and Chris Nicoll, assisted by Ruby Redshaw and Jeremy Jones, won summary judgment for their clients in Milligan v. Crux Subsurface Inc., Docket No. 3:11-cv-00078-SLG (D. Alaska Sep. 27, 2012). The court ruled that the plaintiff, who was ordinarily a land-based worker but who spent 85% of his time working on a barge at a remote work site as a temporary worker in support of a land-based seasonal project, was not a seaman as a matter of law because his relationship to the defendant’s vessel was not substantial in nature.

Nicoll Black & Feig announces the addition of our newest associate, Noah S. Jaffe.  Mr. Jaffe joins us after completing a clerkship with the Washington Court of Appeals.