Practice Areas & Industries: Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Clients involved in maritime-related businesses and transactions turn to Fulbright & Jaworski's Maritime & Admiralty Practice Group for their legal needs associated with litigation, insurance and general maritime business transactions, including:

• Personal injury and property damage litigation
• Charter parties and other maritime contract negotiations, drafting and litigation
• Insurance coverage opinions
• Regulatory compliance of vessel registrations, purchases and sales
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Resolution of statutory fines and penalties
• Tax-advantaged vessel financing

Services Available

We also handle matters in the areas of:

Business and Insurance Matters

Fulbright & Jaworski's transactional work involves a wide range of insurance and business matters, including:

• Negotiating and drafting vessel charter party and other maritime contracts.
• Reviewing and advising clients on insurance coverage and other matters.
• Handling statutory fines and penalties levied against vessels and vessel operators by the United States Coast Guard and other regulatory agencies.
• Counseling U.S. and international clients on vessel financing, construction and ownership, including the MARAD Capital Construction Fund.

Litigation and General Business Matters

Admiralty became an important practice area for Fulbright & Jaworski more than 75 years ago when we formed this practice to address the needs of our clients with maritime-related businesses.

From offshore drilling and service contractors to vessel owners and stevedores, clients associated with the maritime industry rely on Fulbright's Maritime & Admiralty Practice Group for legal assistance associated with litigation, insurance, tax-advantaged vessel financing and general maritime business transactions.

Our Experience

Litigation

Personal Injury Litigation

• Represented the manufacturer of an offshore fishing yacht in a products liability suit filed by the survivors of a fisherman killed by carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Represented the manufacturer of an offshore escape capsule in a products liability suit brought by members of a drilling rig crew who were severely injured when the capsule was caused to free fall 60 feet into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Represented a railroad maintenance company and locomotive lessor in a negligence suit filed by an injured rail yard worker who suffered limb amputation and paralysis when he was struck by a rail car.

General Maritime Casualty Litigation

• Represented an offshore drilling contractor in connection with rig property damage and multiple personal injuries/deaths arising from the rig being towed to the wrong location and placed over an underwater high-pressure gas pipeline.
• Represented offshore platform owners and operators in connection with property damage recovery and delay in production damages occasioned by a barge colliding with the platform.
• Represented a large oil company in connection with property damage and loss of a gas well caused when a seismic vessel collided with a gas production caisson.

Non-Litigation

• Represented the excess underwriters insuring the designers of the pile system for a large production platform offshore Western Australia in a major property damage subrogation claim.
• Represented the excess underwriters for a major oil and gas company in a lawsuit by a company claiming to be an additional insured on those policies. The company was seeking to recover $50 million paid to the named insured for property damage and business interruption.
• Represented a non-operator and its underwriters in an arbitration against the operator of an offshore well for failing to provide insurance coverage as required in the joint operating agreement.