Maritime Law

With offices on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and stretching through the Great Lakes region deep into the Midwest, Goldberg Segalla is well-positioned to handle legal disputes and commercial matters that arise in connection with shipping, logistics, energy and chemical transportation, or other activity in ports or on waterways.

Our lawyers have a broad base of experience handling matters involving the complex web of maritime and admiralty laws and regulations, along with a proven track record of protecting clients’ interests in arbitration, litigation, and other forums for dispute resolution. Our team’s experience includes Jones Act cases and lawsuits brought under the general maritime law, federal longshoremen’s claims, collisions and allisions, property damage claims, commercial and chartering disputes, vessel arrests, Coast Guard investigations, OSHA compliance and investigations, environmental claims, insurance coverage disputes, and more.

Goldberg Segalla’s multidisciplinary Maritime Practice Group is ready to assist insurers, business and property owners, importers and exporters, and others with complex and high-exposure maritime matters wherever they may arise. Highlights of our experience include:

• Matters invoking the Jones Act, the general maritime law, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), the Limitation of Liability Act (LOLA), the Death on the High Seas Act, International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), navigational rules, Coast Guard regulations, and other laws that frequently come into play in maritime claims
• Arbitration before the Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA) for one of the largest publicly traded fuel tanker companies in the world in a maritime arbitration of a contract dispute with a Norwegian shipbuilder concerning construction and chartering of vessels
• SMA arbitration of a chartering/demurrage dispute for a bulk chemical fertilizer distributor in a dispute concerning a German counterparty’s failure to take delivery of ammonium sulfate
• Defense of a vast range of maritime claims involving personal injuries, property damage, collisions/allisions, spills, and other incidents
• Extensive toxic tort defense work involving the applicability of maritime law to asbestos-related injury
• Commercial litigation, including an Eleventh Circuit appellate victory in a potential $30 million case arising out of the sale of a mega-yacht in Florida
• Vessel seizures in connection with contract disputes and mortgage foreclosures
• Ensuring compliance with a wide range of conventions, including International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS); International Convention on Load Lines; International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW); pilotage; and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
• Preparing contracts based on maritime law provisions (including maritime first preferred mortgages under federal law, marine note and security agreements, warranty contracts, and vessel exchange agreements) and handing various registrations with the U.S. Coast Guard
• Insurance coverage advice and litigation involving maritime policies and issues
• Obtaining summary judgment dismissing a wrongful death case arising out of a recreational fishing accident in open water off the coast of Costa Rica on behalf of a travel agent; affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Insurance regulatory analysis of foreign freight forwarders, licensing applicable to them, and regulation of their transactions involving insurers

As in many of our practices, our maritime team brings real-world experience that significantly enhances our understanding of the practical issues involved in legal disputes. Here, for example, one of our New Jersey-based lawyers worked for several years in global logistics before embarking on her law career, giving her and our team an intimate understanding of the nuances of this immensely complex industry.