Category: Uncategorized

Blank Rome Announces 2022 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow and Pathfinders

Megan R. Wood
Saloni R. Patel
Samar Aryani-Sabet

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (“LCLD”) has selected Megan R. Wood to join the 2022 LCLD Fellows Program and Saloni R. Patel and Samar Aryani-Sabet to join the 2022 LCLD Pathfinder Program. These hallmark programs are dedicated to producing a generation of attorneys with strong leadership and relationship skills who are committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion within their individual institutions and throughout the legal industry. 

“We are thrilled to have Megan, Saloni, and Samar represent Blank Rome in the 2022 LCLD Fellows Program and Pathfinder Program,” said Grant S. Palmer, Blank Rome’s Managing Partner and CEO. “They have all demonstrated a real commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at our firm, throughout the legal industry, and within their local communities, and we look forward to celebrating their successful achievements in this critical mission in the years to come.”

“As a longstanding LCLD member organization, Blank Rome is more committed than ever to accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the organization, legal industry, and beyond,” said Krystal Studavent Ramsey, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Blank Rome. “The retention, development, and advancement of our diverse attorneys is at the core of our firm’s culture and mission, and we are proactively engaged in identifying, implementing, and supporting new opportunities through progressive programs, policies, and initiatives such as the LCLD Fellows and Pathfinders programs.”

To read more about the program and Megan, Saloni, and Samar, please visit our website.

Analyzing Maritime (or Non-Maritime) Contracts and Practical Considerations for Litigation Strategy

William R. Bennett, III, Charles S. Marion, and Anthony Yanez

In many civil disputes, the application of choice of law principles as well as the jurisdiction in which the lawsuit is filed can have a significant impact on the outcome of a case. This is especially true where one of the parties conducts business in the maritime industry and the other does not. Some parties may prefer that state law be applied to the dispute because of a favorable state statute (such as a statute of limitations) or because the state’s courts have rendered decisions that support the parties’ position on a substantive issue. Others may prefer that federal law apply where it is more advantageous to a party given the facts of the case. Of course, some parties prefer to litigate in federal court rather than state court, or vice versa, for cost or other reasons.

There is a small subset of cases in which the question of whether maritime or admiralty law should be applied arises. One of the most significant decisions addressing that question is Norfolk Southern R. Co. v. James N. Kirby Pty, Ltd., 543 U.S. 14 (2004). In Kirby, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the liability of a rail carrier that transported over land cargo that was brought to the United States from Australia on board ships, through bills of lading calling for carriage from Australia to Huntsville, Alabama, via the Port of Savannah, Georgia, for damage to the cargo that occurred during that leg of the journey should be determined by applying maritime law, because the entire contract of carriage, and not just the ocean segment of it, constituted a maritime contract. More specifically, the court in Kirby determined that the default liability rule in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”) ($500 per package) applied to a train wreck that allegedly caused $1.5 million in damages. Continue reading “Analyzing Maritime (or Non-Maritime) Contracts and Practical Considerations for Litigation Strategy”

Exercising Maritime Liens against Cargo and Sub-Freights

Thomas H. Belknap Jr.

Vessel owners rarely carry cargo for their own account. More commonly by far, a vessel owner will charter its vessel to another party to carry their (or their sub-charterer’s) cargo. The contracts can vary widely—from voyage charters or contracts of affreightment to time charters and negotiable bills of lading (not to mention the more complex arrangements that one often sees for container cargos). But in most instances, vessel owners are in the business of transporting cargo on behalf of others and, all going well, of being paid to do so. This article is about one mechanism the vessel owner may use to ensure that it gets paid: the maritime lien against cargo.

The Impracticalities of Settled U.S. Maritime Law

It has been settled for over a century under U.S. maritime law that a shipowner has a maritime lien against cargo for charges incurred during the course of its carriage. As the Supreme Court stated in its 1866 decision in Bird of Paridise,1 “Ship-owners, unquestionably, as a general rule, have a lien upon the cargo for the freight, and consequently may retain the goods after the arrival of the ship at port of destination until the payment is made.” Traditionally, a maritime lien against cargo for freight and demurrage was considered a “possessory” lien, meaning that the lien is lost upon the delivery of the cargo to the consignee. To exercise its maritime lien, in other words, the vessel owner was expected to retain possession and control of the cargo until payment; if no payment was received, it needed to enforce its lien by maritime arrest while the cargo remained in its possession. Continue reading “Exercising Maritime Liens against Cargo and Sub-Freights”

Blank Rome Honored as a 2019 Best Law Firm for Women by Working Mother

Blank Rome was named one of the 2019 Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother magazine, marking the third year that our Firm has been recognized for its commitment to creating one of the best women-friendly workplaces in the United States. The winning law firms were honored at the Best Law Firms for Women Gala, which was held at the Peninsula Chicago on September 19, 2019.

Working Mother’s annual list honors 60 U.S. law firms for their policies in the advancement of women, notably with regard to key factors such as women representation, flexibility, paid time off and leaves of absence, leadership, and compensation and advancement, as well as the development and retention of women. In addition to these key factors, this year’s list particularly recognized Blank Rome for our 2018 Women’s Leadership Summit, which assembled 120 women lawyers who collaborated to “hack” the topics of leadership, diversity and inclusion, and delivering value and increasing organizational efficiency.

For more information, please visit Blank Rome Honored as a 2019 Best Law Firm for Women by Working Mother.