On the maritime side our practice includes: personal injury and death cases, casualty work including collisions, pollution, strandings, and groundings, charter party disputes, vessel finance, cargo claims, sexual assault matters, Longshore and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act issues, stowaways, employment actions, marine insurance issues, defense of passenger claims, Customs work, drafting of bills of lading and charter parties, and a variety of transactional work. The International Group of P & I Clubs has designated us as its recommended counsel for occupational disease claims filed against shipowners. As such we represent more than 50 shipowners in asbestos, benzene, hearing loss, and other occupational disease litigation.

We provide advice to and represent clients in civil litigation and other matters involving insurance coverage, contract disputes, construction defects, risk management, business transactions, and administrative law matters. We represent clients in governmental regulation and enforcement matters as well. We have represented clients in product liability matters concerning the design and manufacture of a multitude of items, including emergency egress systems, office equipment, cooking equipment, containers, motor yachts, and medical devices.

Our lawyers have practiced before all of the Federal District Courts in California, all Superior Courts in the San Francisco Bay Area, numerous other Superior Courts throughout California, the California Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court of Military Appeals , the Court of International Trade, and the United States Supreme Court. We have appeared before and worked with numerous State and Federal agencies, including the United States Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Maritime Administration, Customs and Border Protection Service (I.N.S.), Department of Agriculture, Water Quality Control Board, Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Fish & Game, The Port of Oakland, and many others.

Among the matters we have handled recently are: defending a container distributor in a manufacturing defect claim; representing vessel interests in a claim for damage caused by surge from a passing vessel; representing a group of shipowners in claims by former merchant seamen for hearing loss; representing a pleasure craft manufacturer in a design defect lawsuit; seeking a maritime garnishment on behalf of a vessel owner for failure to pay freight; defending shipowners in personal injury claims brought by merchant seamen and/or longshoremen; defending claims of sexual harrasment, wrongful termination, racial discrimination, and age discrimination; representing the manufacturer of emergency escape ladders in a series of product liability actions brought by a homeowners association; representing shipowners in several hundred cases arising out of alleged exposure to asbestos; drafting charter parties and bills of lading for vessel interests; representing pleasure craft owners in water ski, jet ski, and yatching accidents; and defending shipowners and P & I clubs in cargo claims.

Please contact us for more information on our practice areas.