Is Choice of Law Subject to Waiver? Fifth Circuit Petitioned for En Banc Rehearing

On March 10, 2016, I reported on the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Petrobras America, Inc., et al. v. Vicinay Cadenas S.A., No. 14-20589 (03/07/16), where the Fifth Circuit addressed the waivability of OCSLA’s choice of law provision and determined that it could never be waived. The appellee, Vicinay Cadenas, S.A., has now petitioned for a rehearing en banc and asserts the decision conflicts with the Court’s prior holding of In Re HECI Expl. Co., 862 F.2d 513 (5th Cir. 1988) holding that choice of law – even if mandated by a statutory provision that cannot be overridden by the parties’ agreement – is non-jurisdictional and thus subject to waiver. The appellee also urges that the decision threatens to impair the efficient administration of justice by placing a statutorily-prescribed choice of law provision on par with subject matter jurisdiction, thereby requiring continual reconsideration of the issue regardless of whether it was ever timely raised. A majority of the Court’s judges must now vote that the matter deserves an en banc rehearing for the appeal to move forward.

Doug Matthews has practiced law in New Orleans for 35 years and concentrates on maritime trial practice as defense counsel.