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Since October 2020, a team of Vinson & Elkins Appellate attorneys have worked with students from the First Amendment Clinic at SMU’s Dedman School of Law in representing a recently-released federal prisoner in his Fifth Circuit appeal of constitutional claims against prison officials.

On December 22, 2019 the U.S. Fifth Circuit affirmed an $11.6 million judgment for Vinson & Elkins client Captain Jay Rivera. Captain Rivera, a harbor pilot, was badly injured when boarding a vessel owned by Kirby Offshore Marine, LLC (Kirby). District Court Judge George Hanks found Kirby liable under both theories offered by Captain Rivera and awarded damages for Captain Rivera’s lost future earnings as a harbor pilot.