Maritime

Overview

For more than 75 years, Adams & Reese lawyers have advised maritime operators, employers, contractors, and joint venturers, as well as their underwriters and insurers.

Recognized with a regional Tier 1 ranking in Admiralty & Maritime Law in U.S. News – Best Lawyers, Adams & Reese provides counsel and handles litigation, mediation, and arbitration on a full range of maritime legal services, advising on marine transactions, regulatory issues, emergency response situations, and maritime disputes.

Adams & Reese maritime lawyers address the full range of issues facing companies operating offshore and at sea – from vessel purchases, sales, and construction to countless regulatory issues involving federal and state agencies.

We advise clients when an emergency response is necessary – with collisions, allisions, spills, blowouts, hurricanes, and other catastrophic events – and we represent clients in maritime-related disputes and litigation. We provide counsel on a variety of maritime insurance issues, including coverage opinions, investigation, and early negotiation of claims, evaluation of indemnity obligations, and first- and third-party bad faith failure-to-pay disputes.

In coming months and years, our maritime lawyers anticipate a growing need for legal counsel related to tariffs, the decommissioning of old structures (drilling platforms and pipelines), as well as the use of artificial intelligence, automation, data and analytics to manage vessel movement, loading and off-loading of cargo and the tracking of vessels and cargo. We will be ready to address these needs and any needs that arise for our maritime clients.

DEFINING STRENGTHS

Regulatory

We represent clients in front of the following agencies and in the following regulatory matters:

• Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
• MARAD (The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration)
• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
• National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• S. Coast Guard (USCG)
• S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule
• CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act)
• Foreign trade zones
• Marine terminal agreements
• OPA 90
• Public wharfage and terminal tariffs
• Shipping Act

Shipping and International Trade

• Bills of lading
• Cargo and maritime liens
• Cargo and vessel seizures
• Cargo damage and economic loss
• Cargo storage agreements
• Collisions and allisions
• COGSA (Carriage of Goods by Sea Act)
• Global lines of credit
• International freight forwarder regulations
• Limitation of liability
• Manning requirements
• Marine insurance
• Marine terminal operator and facility agreements and regulations
• P&I
• Salvage
• Stevedoring
• Towage
• Transfer of vessel ownership
• Vessel mortgages

Maritime Personal Injury

• Indemnity obligations, evaluation and enforcement
• Jones Act claims
• Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA) Claims

Offshore Energy

• Construction All Risk insurance
• Control of Well insurance
• Drilling contracts
• Energy Package Policies
• Excess Liabilities
• Loss of Production Income (LOPI) insurance
• Making Well Safe insurance
• OCSLA (Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act)
• Offshore service contracts
• Operator's Extra Expense insurance
• Redrill Restoration insurance