On behalf of my co-editor and other members of the Hiscock & Barclay Transportation Team, I am pleased to offer our annual survey of developments in the field of transportation law. As always we have selected significant decisions from around the country, summarized the key facts and legal holdings, and, in some cases, have offered editorial comments about the significance of, or strength or weakness of, a particular holding and how it may impact on future litigations.
Every year alongside the summaries we select one or more topics and treat them to a more detailed analysis suggesting new trends in the case law, or other developments of note that require a comparison of some of this year's cases with decisions from prior years. In this year's edition such an analysis may be found, for example, in section I, a review of liability issues arising out of the U.S.D.O.T. leasing regulations, and section V which deals, in part, with the question of whether transportation brokers may fend off suits seeking damages for alleged negligence, based on a preemption argument available, until recently, only for motor carriers.
This report is read every year by many leaders in the industry – underwriters, claims supervisors, risk managers – and we are grateful both for the kind words that many of you have expressed over the years about the quality of the analysis, and the suggestions that we hope have made the annual summary more user-friendly. We transmit the review primarily electronically, and those who read it electronically are able to link to the decisions that are being reviewed.
The attorneys of the transportation team stand ready to help with legal issues that may arise in your business: coverage questions, regulatory issues and defense work.
Click here to open the Transportation Year in Review.