The admiralty & maritime law group at Lugenbuhl provides brown water and blue water clients in shipping, transportation or oilfield and energy sectors with a wide range of services from our offices strategically located in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas.
Lugenbuhl serves the Gulf Coast offshore, inland waterway, and energy industry by assisting clients with litigation involving casualties and personal injuries, collisions, charter parties, liens, environmental matters as well as organization of their companies, negotiation of contracts, conduct transactions, and more.
Major Casualties and Personal Injuries
When accidents happen, Lugenbuhl attorneys respond with a boots-on-the-ground approach. Being onsite quickly after accidents occur, enables our team to advise our clients with respect to offshore casualties, explosions, vessel collisions, property damages, personal injuries or even death. It also allows us to stand by our client during coast guard and witness communications. We believe immediate actions result in a thorough investigation and ease coordination for our clients during high-profile casualties.
We have experience defending Jones Act seamen and longshore workers claims or if a fatality occurs, we can defend wrongful death claims under DOHSA. Additionally, our reach expands to DBA claims ongoing around the world in view of our longshore expertise. When needs arise following these casualties, we can help our clients interpret and enforce maritime indemnity and insurance agreements contained in charter parties, MSAs, or other contracts.
Lugenbuhl attorneys are litigators and well-versed in the courtroom, mediation, arbitration or at appellate oral arguments.
Front-End Transactions
Whether our clients are involved in building, buying, selling, or repairing vessels, our firm can assist in managing the front-end transaction documents, such as shipyard construction contracts, preferred ship or fleet mortgages and other loan documents, shipyard repair contracts, vessel purchase and sale agreements, bills of sale, and documentation with the U.S. Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center or the appropriate foreign flag-of-convenience ship registries.
Contracts
To help our clients serve their customers in the offshore energy industry, Lugenbuhl assists in the negotiation of a wide variety of maritime service contracts that are tailored to suit the unique needs of the maritime parties and vessels involved.
If contract relationships fray, Lugenbuhl can assist in enforcement of contractual obligations, whether through enforcement of maritime liens or state-law privileges, recording and foreclosing oil-well liens or ship mortgages, prosecuting or defending OCSLA claims, public works act or Miller Act claims, or pursuing other kinds of litigation or alternative dispute resolution.
Insolvency & Bankruptcy
If maritime insolvency or bankruptcy is involved, our maritime attorneys work closely with our bankruptcy attorneys to navigate the often treacherous and complex interface of maritime law and bankruptcy law. Our experience covers both creditors’ rights and debtor protections.
