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Admiralty and Maritime
Admiralty and Maritime
Overview
Carrying out the critical task of keeping the global economy on course, maritime and offshore industries operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Vinson & Elkins’ Admiralty and Maritime Litigation practice, which includes a former licensed mariner and tanker broker, understands the non-stop nature of the industry.
With a 35-year history, V&E represents clients engaged in blue-water and brown-water shipping, offshore maritime and oilfield activities, marine terminal operations, and intermodal transportation. V&E's Admiralty and Maritime Litigation practice operates principally from Houston, Texas, home of the United States' single largest port by inbound tonnage, yet our litigators handle maritime matters around the world.
We work on a wide array of admiralty and maritime litigation matters before state and federal courts and agencies, as well as other local and international dispute resolution settings. Our deep experience in the investigation and handling of such cases provides clients with needed information to effectively evaluate and prosecute or defend these claims. We also have experience in arresting vessels and attaching marine assets to protect our clients’ claims and interests.
Scope of Practice
Vinson & Elkins is regularly called upon to advise on legal matters related to marine casualty investigations and other emergency shipping response activities. V&E's long tradition serving the energy industry and public port authorities also gives our litigators greater insight into building case strategy in light of the complex layers of interacting and often conflicting laws. Lawyers in V&E’s Admiralty & Maritime Litigation practice have extensive experience prosecuting and defending claims sounding in admiralty, including those arising from: - Charter party and other maritime contract disputes
- Collisions between vessels and allisions of vessels into fixed structure
- Marine pollution incidents
- Cargo loss and damage
- Marine and offshore oilfield property damage and casualties
- Personal injury to seamen and other maritime and offshore workers
- Marine insurance coverage disputes against underwriters
- Contractual indemnity obligations
- Salvage and wreck removal
- Maritime lien enforcement and vessel arrests and seizures
Informed by our extensive litigation experience, V&E consults with clients to optimally structure their operations with consideration to the complex web of federal legislative and regulatory frameworks governing the maritime and offshore industries. Some of the regulations in which our lawyers have deep experience include: - Jones Act
- Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA)
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA)
- Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability Act Oil Pollution At of 1990 (OPA90)
- Death on the High Seas Act
- Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act
- U.S. Shipping Act
- Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA)
- U.S. Coast Guard rules and regulations
- U.S. Maritime Administration rules and regulations
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules and regulations
V&E also has experience in advising clients with respect to international maritime codes and conventions, including the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, MARPOL, and international marine liability and compensation regimes.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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