MATTIONI, LTD.
COUNSELORS AT LAW
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Areas of Practice |
Maritime Transactions and Litigation Our maritime practice includes virtually all aspects of this ancient area of the law. The lawyers in this field have many years of practical experience either as former mariners, having served in the maritime industry as marine officers or in the navy or coast guard or in related activities such as marine claims management. This combination of experience with knowledge of maritime law and its unique practice and procedure allows us to provide practical and knowledgeable advice and counsel to our clients. Our lawyers are capable of meeting the unique challenges which must be dealt with in the marine environment. We represent shipowners, managers, operators, charterers and other vessel operators, as well as ship chartering and selling brokers, and their marine underwriters and insurers. Our clients also include marine terminal operators, supply and delivery specialists, and others who provide goods and services to the maritime industry. We also represent marine towage and salvage companies, and other ancillary purveyors to the maritime industry. We have assisted our terminal and warehouse operator clients in the development and maintenance of their tariffs and with regulatory matters related thereto. Also numbered among our clients are ship and boat designers, builders and dealers, commercial fishing boat owners and operators, and a myriad of others who are involved either directly or indirectly in the maritime industry. Our services are generally provided at two different levels. We offer assistance, advice and counsel in maritime business transactions, ranging from ship registry, sales, charters and management agreements and some work in vessel finance, to specialized contracts and agreements relating to unique carriage of goods arrangements and special business transactions. We have assisted our clients in working through the requirements of OPA 90, involving marine oil pollution prevention and response to spill events, review and development of vessel and on-shore response plans, and related requirements. Our environmental attorneys, working with our Proctors in Admiralty, have assisted in development of specialized contracts for providers of marine response actions and qualified individuals under OPA 90. We have also handled the investigation, evaluation and representation of clients involved in such marine casualties as fires, explosions, collisions and allisions, groundings and strandings, and other catastrophic events and losses. We have defended multiple-party class action claims for passenger injuries and for marine salvage, among others. In the maritime litigation arena, we have successfully represented our clients in such diverse matters as a grounding of a vessel in the Straits of Magellan, with its attendant serious ship damage and repair issues and marine general average claims, an explosion and fire which destroyed a tanker in Philadelphia with its attendant claims related to the loss of the ship, its cargo, and personnel, as well as the related property and other third party injury and death claims; the sinking of towing vessels in the Delaware River and in San Juan, PR, with loss of life and property damage claims, related insurance claims, and extended administrative claims; major pier damage claims arising out of allisions with such facilities; maritime arbitrations involving such issues as claims arising out of the conversion of a vessel from a car carrier to a specialized clay slurry carrier; numerous marine cargo claims, many involving insurance subrogation, as well as direct claims by shippers; litigation involving faulty ship design and construction; marine officer licensing proceedings; casualty loss investigations; and many others. Our maritime litigation practice involves matters in many states and foreign countries, with equally diverse clients before various tribunals, including courts, arbitrators, administrative judges and officers and in a variety of alternative dispute resolution venues. Our years of both practical and legal experience permit us to fully understand and appreciate the nature of the events with which our clients are confronted in the marine business environment. With our compliment of mariner-lawyers (both deck and engineer experience) and others, we believe we offer insight and understanding that is difficult to find in any other comparable law firm. |
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