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Our admiralty practice includes
attorneys in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gulfport, Houston
and Tampa offices. Our practice is among the largest in
the country, and is well known throughout the United States
and internationally for its experience, knowledge and
diversity. Two partners in the group have distinguished
themselves in recent years by being elected to the presidency
of the Maritime Law Association of the United States. We
have the capability of mobilizing a fully staffed emergency
response team should a major maritime casualty require this
level of attention. Because many maritime emergencies do
not arise during normal working hours, our admiralty attorneys
maintain an on-call system so that we are available at any
time. At the same time, our depth and breadth of
experience allow us to handle the more routine maritime claims
in a responsible and cost-efficient manner.
As the reputation of our maritime
practice has grown, the complexity of the cases handled has
increased. Our admiralty practice now extends to
virtually every area of maritime law.
Our maritime attorneys are recognized as experienced
litigators and, accordingly, our maritime practice has a
significant litigation caseload. Our attorneys routinely
litigate in matters involving collision and personal injury
defense (inland marine vessels, oceangoing vessels, passenger
vessels, drill rigs, and other offshore equipment), defense of
cargo claims, worker’s compensation, maritime commercial
disputes and marine insurance coverage. In addition, the
firm has particular experience in mass disaster, major
pollution, toxic tort and class action litigation for both
marine and land based claims.
We
represent shipowners and underwriters, including Lloyd’s,
British, European and Domestic insurance entities, and leading
Protection and Indemnity (“P&I”) Clubs. The firm is the
local or regional correspondent for several P&I and Hull Clubs
serving ports from Lake Charles, Louisiana to Pascagoula,
Mississippi, and inland waterways. The firm has been
involved in the handling of numerous significant marine
disasters over the past thirty years. We defended the
owners and underwriters of an 800-foot freighter in connection
with over 1,800 injury, property damage and business
interruption claims arising out of its collision with a
shopping mall at the New Orleans riverfront. This single
incident required the maritime practice’s attention in
defending claims for collision damage, property damage/loss,
cargo loss, personal injury, statutory penalties and losses of
a purely commercial nature. Moreover, our maritime
practice is able to handle major maritime catastrophes that
have, at times, occurred simultaneously in different parts of
the world.
The attorneys in
our maritime practice are routinely asked to render marine
insurance counseling, marine insurance coverage evaluation,
contract drafting and negotiation, charter drafting and
negotiation, and marine financing advices. As stated
previously, our attorneys are also experienced in handling
litigation that ultimately might be involved in these areas.
In addition to the practice areas
noted above, our attorneys appear before state and federal
regulatory bodies such as the United States Coast Guard,
Federal Maritime Commission, United States Department of Labor
and the National Transportation Safety Board. We also
routinely call upon the firm’s Labor and Employment attorneys
to assist in counseling our maritime clients in those
specialized areas.
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