Gault & Box, PLLC

About this office:

Gault & Box is a law firm located in Paducah, Kentucky, at the confluence of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers and only a few miles from the Upper and Lower Mississippi Rivers. A primary practice area of the firm is admiralty and maritime law representing inland river towing companies, fleeting and harbor services, shipyards, marine equipment brokers, pleasure boat marina operators, and maritime insurance companies in state and federal court litigation and in vessel financing, contracts and transactional matters.

With a combined total of over 43 years of practice, the partners at G&B have experience in essentially every aspect of admiralty and maritime law governing accidents, injuries, damages, and transactions involving commercial and recreational vessels. G&B's admiralty and maritime practice includes personal injury defense of Jones Act and Non-Jones Act injuries and wrongful death, Limitation of Liability suits, recreational and commercial vessel allisions and collisions, sinking, breakaways, property damage claims, and claims of negligent repairs. The firm also provides advice and litigates issues involved with maritime and general insurance coverage under protection and indemnity, hull, pollution, ship repair liability, wharfingers liability, general liability, and excess insurance policies. The firm has an extensive transactional practice involving vessel purchases and sales, vessel financing and preferred ship mortgages, fleeting and towing agreements, bareboat and fully found charters and contracts of affreightment. Our lawyers have represented clients in many U.S. District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal throughout the country as well as many different State Courts.

G&B partners are experienced in responding immediately to maritime and casualties of every nature and providing on scene investigation and assistance in dealing with the crew members and the United States Coast Guard. The firm maintains a 24-hour answering service and provides home and cellular telephone numbers to clients to provide ready access to the attorneys when assistance is needed. G&B believes that an early, thorough investigation and preservation of potential testimony and evidence is the first step to being able to successfully defend a claim.

In addition to the admiralty and maritime law practice, G&B attorneys actively handle non-maritime general civil litigation, including the areas of commercial law, employment law, consumer protection law, toxic tort and product liability, general insurance defense, and business litigation. In addition, the firm routinely provides persons accused of crimes with a criminal defense in both state and federal courts.

G&B attorneys have represented clients successfully in some of the most significant inland river cases. Recently, G&B lawyers concluded a limitation of liability case in West Virginia involving a breakup of a tow while exiting a navigation lock which resulted in the loss of the navigation pool and the filing of over 170 claims seeking in excess of $90,000,000.00. Our lawyers also have successfully defended clients in death cases and catastrophic personal injury cases.