Charles Kramer, The Levison Group
Recently a judge of the highest degree
Was asked to adjudicate the identity
Of a sea-going Vessel which, long ago,
Gave up the ghost and sank far below
Back in the 1800’s, on a mid summers day
The clipper ship Dixie got underway
It sailed from New York to the town of Mobile
Not knowing the trip was its final ordeal
For the Dixie reached port without much pain
But was followed in time by a Level 1 Hurricane
And though at first things went well, and they withstood the wind
Sheltered in part by the island Dauphin,
Good fortune for all, did not long remain
And buffeted by the storm, it soon snapped its chains.
And went swirling down stream twelve miles or more
Pounded to pieces by the blistering storm
Now in the same location, but not at the same time
A civil war ship, the Amstel, took a dive
So when several years later, Fathom found a wreck
It wasn’t clear which boat it found, (and so a judge was asked to check.)
Fathom Exploration claimed the Dixie in a suit it brought “in rem”
But the US and Alabama said the ship was the Amstel, and responded it thus, belonged to them
So the judge reviewed the evidence, and held twas the Amstel, Fathom found
In an opinion which, frankly, was really quite sound.
But what makes this ruling oh so unique
Makes it worthy of poetry, so to speak
Is that in a twist of verse, seldom scene
Judge Steel tweaked his opinion with Gilligan’s Island theme
Periodically throughout the opinions long prose
Lie verses from Gilligan, which the judge interposed
So while learning the law, and the fates of those ships
The reader is entertained by the Gilliganian quips.
See Fathom Exploration, L.L.C. v. The Unidentified Shipwrecked Vessel or Vessels, etc., in rem, Civil Action No. 04-0685-S-M. (S.D. Ala., Mar. 12, 2012).
—————
Under Analysis is a nationally syndicated column. Charles Kramer is a principal of the St. Louis, Missouri law firm Riezman, Berger, P.C. You may direct comments or criticisms about this column to the Levison Group c/o this newspaper, or direct to the Levison Group via e-mail, at comments@levisongroup.com.
© 2012 Under Analysis L.L.C.
