Bruch v. U.S. Coast Guard

MEMORANDUM

LOUIS H. POLLAK, District Judge.

Plaintiffs, licensed docking masters, filed this action on July 14, 1989, seeking recovery of attorney’s fees and costs expended in successfully defending charges of misconduct brought by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1988. The facts of the underlying litigation 1 are that plaintiffs were each cited for violations of 46 U.S.C. § 8502, which requires that a “coastwise seagoing vessel” be under the control of a pilot licensed pursuant to 46 U.S.C. § 7101. That section in its turn sets different requirements for the issuance of different types of licenses, and…