251-217-9733
Maritime and Admiralty Litigation on the Gulf Coast
Dock, shipyard, vessel, and marine insurance disputes, in a port city that generates them.
Maritime Law Is Its Own System
Maritime and admiralty law is a distinct body of law governing activity on navigable waters. It is not simply state law applied to boats. It has its own doctrines, its own remedies, its own procedural rules, and in many cases its own forum.
Which body of law applies is frequently the first and most consequential question in a case, and it is not always obvious. The answer can turn on where the incident happened, what the vessel was doing, what the injured person's job was, and how much of their working time was spent aboard. Two people injured in the same incident can fall under entirely different frameworks with different remedies and different limitation periods.
Getting that classification right at the outset shapes everything after it. Getting it wrong can mean filing in the wrong forum, under the wrong theory, after the wrong deadline.
What We Handle
Dock and shipyard disputes
Contract, damage, and operational disputes arising from repair, construction, and terminal activity.
Vessel damage and collision
Allision, collision, and damage claims involving commercial and recreational vessels.
Marine insurance
Hull, protection and indemnity, and cargo coverage disputes, including denied claims and coverage litigation.
Cargo and logistics disputes
Damage, delay, and liability claims arising from carriage.
Maritime contracts
Charters, repair agreements, terminal services, and the indemnity provisions inside them.
Jones Act defense
Defense of seaman injury claims. Defense side only.
Longshore and harbor worker claims
Claims arising under the federal longshore framework, on the defense side.
Maritime liens and vessel arrest
Asserting and defending against liens on vessels.
Sound familiar?
How We Approach It
Establish the framework first
Which body of law applies, which forum, and which limitation period. This is the foundational question and it is answered before strategy, not after.
Move on evidence immediately
Vessels sail, equipment is repaired, and crews change over. Maritime evidence disperses faster than almost any other kind.
Read the contracts and the policy together
Charters, repair agreements, and marine policies allocate risk in ways that frequently determine the outcome before the facts are even argued.
Who Does This Work
Jordan W Gerheim
Maritime and admiralty litigation including dock and shipyard disputes and marine insurance, alongside a broad civil defense practice.
Vaughan Luker, Paralegal
Forty years of litigation experience including admiralty (an unusual depth of maritime case preparation for a firm this size, and worth naming on this page specifically).
Jones Act, Longshore, or General Maritime?
Three frameworks, and which one applies depends on who was hurt and what they were doing, not on where the water was.
Jones Act
Seamen (crew members with a substantial connection to a vessel in navigation). Provides a negligence remedy against the employer. We defend these claims; we do not bring them.
Longshore and Harbor Workers
Maritime workers who are not seamen (longshore, harbor, shipyard, and terminal workers). A federal compensation framework rather than a negligence claim.
General maritime law
The broader body of maritime doctrine covering vessel owners, passengers, cargo, collision, salvage, and liens.
State law
Applies where the activity is not maritime in nature, which is a genuinely contested question in many dock, marina, and near-shore incidents.
How These Matters Are Billed
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does maritime law apply to our situation?
It depends on where the activity occurred, what the vessel was doing, and what the person involved actually does for a living. Incidents on docks, in marinas, and near shore are genuinely contested in this respect. The same event can fall under maritime or state law depending on details that are not obvious. It is the first question we answer and it changes everything downstream.
What is the Jones Act, in plain terms?
It is the federal law giving seamen a negligence claim against their employer for injuries suffered in service of a vessel. Whether someone qualifies as a seaman turns on their connection to a vessel in navigation, which is a more technical question than it sounds. We defend these claims on behalf of employers and vessel owners; we do not represent claimants under it.
Our marine insurer denied a claim. Is that the end of it?
No. Marine policies contain their own conditions, warranties, and exclusions, and denials frequently rest on interpretations that do not survive scrutiny. Hull and protection and indemnity coverage in particular carry provisions that operate differently from ordinary commercial policies, which is exactly why a denial is worth having reviewed rather than accepted.
A lien has been asserted against our vessel. What happens now?
Maritime liens attach to the vessel itself and can lead to arrest, which is disruptive and expensive regardless of the merits. These matters move quickly and are worth addressing immediately rather than waiting to see what develops.
Do you represent injured seamen?
No. Our Jones Act work is defense-side, on behalf of employers and vessel owners. If you are a seaman who has been injured, we will point you toward counsel who represent claimants.
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Work Out Which Rules Apply Before Anything Else
Book a Risk-Free Strategy Session. If an incident has just occurred, call 251-217-9733 (maritime evidence disperses fast).