Attachment 4: Protection Indemnity

ATTACHMENT 4

Protection & Indemnity Guidelines
In the event of litigation against the Government) the Vessel) the Contractor) or the Contractor9s underwriters) the following guidelines must be followed< (a) The Torts Branch) Civil Division) U. S . Department of Justice (hereafter " DOJ")) ensures the

integrity of the GovernmentTs public vessel defense and other limitations on the Government] s waiver of sovereign immunity. DOJ has firm policies) positions) and views concerning these defenses and cooperation between private P&I counsel (retained by the Contractor or its underwriters) and DOJ is essential to their preservation. This remains true even during the course of litigation which may not directly involve a public vessel. (b) Upon receiving notice of a legal action) DOJ will assign a monitoring attorney to coordinate

with P&I counsel. DOJ will decide whether to authorize private P&I counsel to defend the United S tates and sign pleadings as "Of Counsel to the United S tatesd " Private P&I counsel should call upon the DOJ monitoring attorney for advice and assistance as they see fit.

(c) DOJ generally does not intrude upon private counsel] s handling of claims and litigationd It

will not ordinarily deal directly with plaintiff] s lawyers (except in the course of motion practice reserved by DOJ). At the outset of litigation) the DOJ monitoring attorney will ordinarily provide P&I counsel with written procedural and substantive instructions to coordinate the defense of the matter. P&I counsel must comply with these instructions. (d) Plaintiffs generally enjoy the same substantive rights against the United S tates (in its capacity

as shipowner) as they would against private shipowners. However) there are conditions to the waiver of sovereign immunity embodied by the Public Vessels Act) 46 U. S . C. § § 3 1 1 01 -3 1 1 1 3 (hereafter PVA) and the Suits in Admiralty Act) 46 U. S . C. § § 30901 -3 091 8 (hereafter SAA) which limit the jurisdiction of courts to adjudicate those rights. Although seamen may bring suits for injuries arising on public vessels) those suits must be maintained in strict accordance with the PVA and the SAA.
(e) There are certain litigation advantages available in many cases to the Government and its

counsel. Specific advice should be solicited from the monitoring DOJ attorney by private counsel) but such advantages in a particular case may include<

1. S iixty days within which to answer the complaint.