Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Lozen International, LLC

Plaintiff Sea-Land Service, Inc. (Sea-Land), brought this action against Defendant Lozen International, LLC (Lozen), to recover money owed under a shipping contract. Lozen counterclaimed for damages resulting from Sea-Land’s failure to timely deliver one of the shipments at issue. The parties settled and dismissed Sea-Land’s claim, but they were unable to reach an agreement with respect to Lozen’s counterclaims. As to those, the district court entered summary judgment in favor of Sea-Land.

Lozen appeals, arguing that (1) the parties entered into a special oral contract for carriage of the shipment and, therefore, the terms printed on Sea-Land’s international bills of lading do not control the parties’ agreement; (2) the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), 46 U.S.C.App. §§ 1300 1315, does not apply to the shipment; (3) assuming COGSA applies, there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether there was an “unreasonable deviation” by Sea-Land; (4) even if the terms on Sea-Land’s bills of lading do control the parties’ agreement, there is a genuine issue of fact as to whether the “liberty clauses” in the bills of lading protect Sea-Land from liability; and (5) a number of the…