As another year comes to a close, it is a perfect opportunity to evaluate the challenges and opportunities that we faced—and hopefully, embraced and overcame—as well as the goals we will set for the year ahead. Whether in the personal or professional realm, in the maritime industry or beyond, a good team is always greater than the sum of its parts.
In this final Mainbrace edition for 2019, we take a look at progressive topics involving the ever-developing legal, regulatory, and financial landscape for autonomous vessels, as well as current developments regarding climate change and renewable energy in the maritime industry.
We also revisit key discussions involving insolvency-related judgments under chapter 15; exercising maritime liens against cargo and sub-freights; effectively utilizing personal jurisdiction matters; and the reach and limitations of U.S. forfeiture law. All of these timely articles remind us that the maritime industry continues to evolve, grow, and change—sometimes slower than we’d like, and other times at lightning speed—and we must therefore continue to work together to understand and safely adapt to important shipping developments as they occur.
We also highlight some of the recent accomplishments, recognitions, and newsworthy developments both within our Maritime group and our Firm as a whole. We are incredibly proud of our Blank Rome family of attorneys and professionals for working diligently every day to ensure that our clients, colleagues, and communities are valued and appreciated, and we are humbled and honored to receive recognition from our clients, peers, and the legal industry in doing so.
May the final weeks of 2019 bring peace and prosperity to you and yours during the holiday season and new year celebrations. We look forward to continuing our quarterly Mainbrace editions in the year ahead and working with you in 2020 and beyond.
EDITOR, Mainbrace
THOMAS H. BELKNAP JR.
Partner
212.885.5270
tbelknap@blankrome.com
Blank Rome was named the Excellence in Maritime Law award winner at the 2019 Lloyd’s List Americas Awards, held on September 25, 2019, in Houston, Texas. The coveted award recognizes “exemplary expertise and commitment to the shipping industry as well as innovation through which lawyers have played a crucial role in notable cases, restructuring, or dispute resolution.”
Per Who’s Who Legal, “nominees were selected based upon comprehensive, independent survey work with both general counsel and private practice lawyers worldwide. Only specialists who have met independent international research criteria are listed.”
Candid conversations, unfiltered insights, and a dose of hard-earned wisdom from influential women, committed to helping other women succeed and lead.
The central theme of Dan Brown’s best-selling book Origin involves answering the long-debated questions on evolution: Where do we come from? Who are we? And, where are we going? When you think about it, those three simple questions, when answered by any individual, group, or organization, will, in all likelihood, include an assessment of their own evolution. Blank Rome Maritime’s evolution, in and of itself, is quite extraordinary.