Track Record
The firm's representation on behalf of its clients has included the following noteworthy results:
LITIGATION
- In a major oil spill case, the firm represented a large oil refinery in the Philadelphia area in its suit to recover claims in excess of $15 million against a tanker owner for cleanup costs, physical and economic damages and payments to third-party claimants, after the tanker pulled away from the dock during discharge. The refinery and the tanker owner were both designated "responsible parties" by the U.S. Coast Guard. One of the crucial legal issues was whether the tanker owner could limit its liability under the U.S. Limitation of Liability Act. The firm successfully obtained a ground-breaking order providing that the refinery's OPA '90 claims could be prosecuted outside of the vessel owner's limitation proceeding. The firm then obtained a favorable settlement for the refinery.
- The firm successfully argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a major international oil company. This case resulted in the reversal of a 150-year old Supreme Court precedent. The client was ultimately found entitled to a maritime lien and a judgment in excess of $1 million for fuel oil supplied by the oil company to a vessel in Saudi Arabia through the company's local supplier. This decision has altered the basis of admiralty jurisdiction in the United States.
- The firm, on behalf of one of its shipowner clients, recovered $1.5 million from the client's original lawyer who had misappropriated settlement funds in the guise of legal fees. This case was featured in an article in The New York Times.
- The firm, representing the time charterers of a vessel which sank with all hands in the North Atlantic, successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in federal court in New York preventing the dispersal of hull insurance proceeds. As a result of thiscreative approach, the proceeds then became the primary source of funds to pay claims arising out of the loss.
- The firm successfully represented a shipowner in disputes against the shipper of a cargo of steel turnings which caught fire and severely damaged the ship's structure. The shipper was found liable for all resulting damages, including port of refuge and salvage-type expenses, costs of repairs and loss of use of the vessel. On the firm's application, arbitrators' and attorneys' fees were also awarded.
- In a case involving the grounding of a large U.S. flag container vessel in New York Harbor, the firm represented the time charterer and successfully developed evidence refuting the shipowner's unsafe port claim and established fault on the part of the U.S. Coast Guard for relocating a critical aid to navigation during dredging operations. The U.S. Government paid nearly 100% of the shipowner's and charterer's provable damages.
- In a case of first impression involving a tanker explosion in the Persian Gulf, the firm successfully persuaded the federal district court to allow the vessel's managing operator, who performed all of the functions of a shipowner, to limit its liability under the U.S. Limitation of Liability Act with respect to personal injury and death claims.
- In another oil spill case, the firm acted for a foreign tanker owner and its P&I Club in a lawsuit brought by an oil terminal in New York for cleanup costs and related damages arising out of a spill caused by a broken discharge hose. The P&I Club was successfully dismissed from the action on the basis that it was not an "insurer" under New York's pollution laws. The remaining strict liability claims against the shipowner were settled on favorable terms on the firm's argument that the terminal, as co-discharger, lacked standing to bring a strict liability claim under New York's pollution laws.
- In one noteworthy cargo case, the firm represented a Russian shipowner in a suit for damages in excess of $4 million for allegedly mishandling two shipments of newsprint rolls. The firm, brought into the case long after the voyage in question, investigated the matter aggressively and ultimately proved that the damage was caused by defective manufacturing rather than mishandling. The suit against the shipowner was dropped in its entirety.
- The firm represented a shipowner who brought an action against a major U.S. rail carrier for indemnity with respect to a cargo claim paid by the shipowner for damage that occurred on the rail leg of carriage. The firm successfully convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to uphold the shipowner's indemnity claim despite the rail carrier's argument that the claim was time-barred.
- The firm successfully obtained complete dismissal of a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought by a barge owner for oil pollution clean-up costs asserted against the English insurance broker following the underwriter's denial of coverage.
- The firm has acted on all sides of insurance disputes. In one case following the total loss of a vessel, underwriters refused to pay a $10 million insurance claim. In less than one year, the firm successfully persuaded the underwriters to pay the full amount of the claim (and to publicly apologize for refusing payment) after establishing evidence that the underwriters' defenses were without merit.
ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION
- The firm successfully persuaded a panel of New York arbitrators to be the first in U.S. history to award treble damages, plus attorney's fees, in a case in which a tanker owner was found to have engaged in a pattern of cargo theft. The award was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was featured in an article in The Wall Street Journal.
- Over the years, the firm has successfully obtained decisions in federal courts granting arbitrators the power to order a party to post security for a claim and to hold that party in contempt for failure to do so.
- In one noteworthy arbitration, the firm successfully defended a major U.S. oil company in a multi-million dollar charter party unsafe port/berth claim brought by a tanker owner after the vessel grounded while making its final approach to its berth in Anchorage, Alaska. The panel majority held that the grounding was caused by pilot error attributable to the owner, rather than an unsafe condition, and exonerated the charterer completely.
- The firm acted for a shipowner in a claim against a Caribbean-based charterer for unpaid expenses involving a cargo of crude oil to be loaded in Nigeria that never materialized. Evidence was successfully developed that proved the company was a "shell" designed to defraud creditors. The firm obtained a significant settlement from the individuals behind the corporation.
- The firm obtained a precedent-setting arbitration award in favor of a major American oil company holding that it was not required to pay the shipowner, under a long-term time charter, increased oil pollution insurance premiums following the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the resulting escalation in oil pollution insurance costs.
- The firm successfully assisted a major oil trading company in defending an arbitration of a claim for over $1.6 million allegedly due under the terms of a joint venture agreement, including recovery of a counterclaim and legal costs on the client's behalf.
- The firm successfully defended the seller of a large yacht in connection with the buyer's claim of more than $1.5 million for alleged breach of contract, misrepresentation and fraud.
- The firm has also represented its clients in mediations. One case involved a dispute between two major oil companies that ceased doing business with each other due to quality claims under an international sales contract. Following a mediation conducted under American Arbitration Association rules, the firm was able to help the two oil companies settle their differences and resume doing business.
CASUALTY INVESTIGATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
- The firm has represented numerous clients in casualty investigations and hearings, including acting for a major U.S. tanker operator and vessel's master during a six-week U.S. Coast Guard Formal Board of Inquiry into the cause of the tanker's grounding and subsequent oil spill outside New York Harbor. During the course of the hearings, evidence was developed that the Coast Guard's buoy positioning system and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's improper maintenance of the channel, along with the pilot's negligence, contributed to the grounding. The tanker owner and operator and the vessel's master were found not to be at fault and no disciplinary action was taken.
- In one of many cases requiring immediate on-the-scene presence, the firm acted on behalf of a tank barge owner and its P&I Club following the vessel's explosion during discharge operations. This resulted in the largest oil spill in the history of New York Harbor. The firm, carrying out an immediate on-site investigation, assisting the owner in oil spill cleanup efforts and responding to the demands of numerous local, state and federal authorities, including participating in Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board hearings, was instrumental in rapidly containing the disaster with minimum press coverage.
