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Clarence J. Simon v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Department of Labor, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 19-60215 · judgment August 20, 2020

Certiorari denied · June 28, 2021
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

This case poses important questions regarding Section 33(g) of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA). Question I. Is a longshore worker permanently disqualified from receiving any benefits from his employer because his counsel, who lacked actual or apparent authority to finalize a settlement on the worker’s behalf, reached a tentative third-party settlement? Question II. If 33 U.S.C. § 933(g) was written to allow employers to offset liability by the amount of a third-party settlement, may all compensation be denied to an injured worker who did not accept the third-party offer, did not sign a release, and did not receive any funds? Question III. Was the Jones Act, General Maritime Law, 905(b), or other legal regime that may have been applicable in the district court, the third party case, sufficiently independent of the more specific requirement of § 933(g) so that a finding of a settlement by the district court was neither collateral estoppel nor binding on the administrative judge or the BRB and the doctrine was erroneously applied?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Louis R Koerner Jr.
Koerner Law Firm

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 28 2021
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 24 2021
    Reply of petitioner Clarence J. Simon filed.
  3. Jun 11 2021
    Reply of Clarence J. Simon not accepted for filing. (Corrected version submitted)(June 25, 2021)
  4. Jun 08 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/24/2021.
  5. May 19 2021
    Brief of Federal Respondent in opposition filed.
  6. Apr 13 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 19, 2021.
  7. Apr 12 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 28, 2021 to May 19, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  8. Mar 29 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including April 28, 2021, for all respondents.
  9. Mar 26 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 29, 2021 to April 28, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Mar 24 2021
    Brief of respondents Longnecker Properties, Inc. and SeaBright Insurance Company in opposition filed.
  11. Mar 01 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 29, 2021, for all respondents.
  12. Feb 26 2021
    Motion of respondents Dir., OWCP, et al. to extend the time to file a response from February 26, 2021 to March 29, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  13. Jan 29 2021
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including March 29, 2021, for all respondents.
  14. Jan 28 2021
    Motion of respondents Longnecker Properties, Inc., et al. to extend the time to file a response from February 26, 2021 to March 29, 2021, submitted to The Clerk.
  15. Jan 21 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 26, 2021)