By David Pendered

Nov. 11 – Two important deadlines were set Nov. 7 in the federal lawsuit involving the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore, after it was struck by a container ship.

A federal judge in Maryland has set June 1, 2026 for the bench trial to begin, following a Feb. 27, 2026 deadline for the filing of all expert depositions, according to a Nov. 7 order.

The corporations that own the DALI agreed in October to pay $102 million to resolve a government claim for costs to re-open the channel.

The judge provided some information about his outlook on the court’s role in determining liability or, more importantly for the DALI’s owners, the limitation on liability. Citing a previous case, the judge noted that ‘In a limitation action, first ‘the court must consider what acts of negligence or conditions on unseaworthiness caused the accident.”

The purpose of the discussion is to reach a settlement, the judge observed: “In short, the court has dual responsibilities: Moving this case toward trial to resolve key legal and factual issues ands etting the case up for settlement of some or all of its component parts.”

Dali

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