Ian and Patrick will be discussing the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Knight v. Kirby Offshore Marine Pacific, LLC, 983 F.3d 172.  Ian (on behalf of the plaintiff) and Patrick (on behalf of the defendant) handled the case from beginning to end, including trying the case to the bench at the district court level and then arguing the appeal in the Fifth Circuit.  A fractured Fifth Circuit opinion addressed the issue of whether, as a matter of law, a seaman cannot be contributorily negligent if his injury occurs while executing the direct orders of his Captain.  In reaching its decision, the Fifth Circuit weighed the precedential value of a decades old unpublished opinion on the matter and ultimately adopted a standard that underlies a Circuit split around the country.  Ian and Patrick will walk the audience through the life of the case and discuss the impact of the decision on Jones Act personal injury cases in the Fifth Circuit.