Litigation Practice

Maritime Litigation

All of our lawyers are maritime attorneys, and our practice and experience covers the full spectrum of maritime law subjects. Our maritime litigation clients range from multinational corporations to local business and insurance services, and include companies engaged in shipping, manufacturing, finance and marine construction as well as their domestic and foreign underwriters. We are the designated Correspondent Counsel for many of the world’s major Protection & Indemnity Clubs. Our range of maritime litigation experience is vast and includes:

Maritime personal injury defense
Defense of cargo damage claims (whether transported by sea, air, or land)
Marine insurance coverage disputes
Charter party litigation
Arrest and sale of vessels
Defense and prosecution of maritime liens
Defense and prosecution of maritime attachments and garnishments
Ship mortgage foreclosures for lenders
Defense and prosecution of salvage claims
Defense and prosecution of vessel collision and allision claims
Marine construction defect defense
Marine employment tort defense (claims of ADA violations, harassment, etc.)
Defense and prosecution of marine pollution and toxic tort claims
Marine product liability defense
Waterfront premises liability defense
Commercial and recreational diving injury defense
Defense and prosecution of marine commercial transaction disputes
Property and casualty coverage and litigation
Defense and prosecution of waterfront, port and marina real estate disputes
Defense and prosecution of marine business tort and contracts
Defense and prosecution of towage disputes
Defense and prosecution of ship owner’s limitation of liability
Enforcement of creditor's and lenders rights in bankruptcies involving marine assets
Maritime arbitration and mediation

Representative Matters:

Jones Act and Maritime Personal Injury

Obtained defense verdict in seaman’s Jones Act personal injury lawsuit where the defendant’s last offer of $1 million was refused.
Obtained a defense verdict following a jury trial in San Francisco federal court in a Jones Act case brought by a container ship’s engineer claiming that he suffered a career ending knee injury, with the plaintiff’s last demand before trial being $800,000.
Obtained a defense verdict following a jury trial in San Francisco Superior Court in a Jones Act case brought by a tug captain claiming a career ending back injury, with the last demand before trial being in excess of $1,000,000.
Obtained a defense verdict following a jury trial in Long Beach Superior Court in a seaman’s Jones Act personal injury lawsuit in which liability was admitted, as a result of a finding that there was no medical causation, and in which the plaintiff’s last demand before trial was $2 million.
Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Bay Area marine firm in a maritime personal injury matter. The plaintiff’s final demand at mediation was $750,000.
Obtained a $1 million settlement on behalf of a passenger of a recreational sailboat injured in Monterey Bay when a wench and is rigging failed, against a foreign manufacturer of the yacht.

Limitation of Liability

Successfully established limitation of liability for ship owner client in a Northern District of California federal court trial that was one of the few cases in which a shipowner defeated liability based upon the "Act of God" defense. The case represents the only case in which the Ninth Circuit federal appellate court has held, in a written opinion, that pleasure vessel owners have the right to the benefits of the federal Limitation of Liability Act. Hechinger v. Caskie, 890 F.2d 202 (9th 1989).
Participated with an Amicus team before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Sisson v. Ruby, which held that the Limitation of Liability Act applies to pleasure craft.

Salvage

Defended a salvage claim at trial in federal court in Seattle resulting from the salvage of a tugboat on fire in the Bering Sea, arising in the tug crew obtaining only a low order salvage award.
Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a barge owner in a salvage case tried in San Francisco federal court brought by the operators and crew of two tug boats, with the salvage claimants contending that they saved the barge, which had broken free from its tow in the San Francisco Channel in a Force Nine storm, from hitting the North tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

General Maritime Litigation

Obtained defense verdict in breach of contract action filed by a yacht broker against his former clients for recovery of commission. The court found that the broker had breached his fiduciary duties to his clients.
Obtained ruling sustaining a demurrer to plaintiff’s negligence, fraud and breach of contract causes of action asserted against a Bay Area marine repair yard.
Obtained a defense judgment in a breach of contract action brought by a yacht broker seeking to collect his commission from the purchaser of a yacht, with the Marin County Superior Court finding that the broker had breached his fiduciary duties [there are no other cases in California reporting this finding as a basis of denying a yacht broker’s commission].
Obtained a verdict in excess of $400,000 on behalf of a recreational boat purchaser following a jury trial in San Francisco brought under the Song Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (“Lemon Law”) as a result of the manufacturer of a sport fishing vessel failing to disclose known defects in the vessel to the purchaser.
Obtained a defense judgment on behalf of a marine repair yard following a trial in Oakland federal court, even though the yard had admitted liability, with the judge ruling that the owner of the boat, which had sustained damages approximating $1 million, was bound by a damage limitation clause contained in the marine yard’s contract.
Obtained a settlement in excess of $500,000 in the Marin County Superior Court on behalf of the owner of an antique wooden ship that had been wrongfully repossessed by a bank.
Represent major shipbuilder in all its U.S.-based litigation