MARITIME AND TRANSPORTATION LAW

         Personal Injury and Death

            *          Authored and submitted amicus curiae briefs to the United States Supreme Court in Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358 (1990); and Howlett v. Birkdale Shipping Co., S.A., 512 U.S. 92 (1994).

            *          Acted on behalf of the M/V ROSE S in consolidated actions for wrongful deaths and limitation of liability arising from the disappearance of the vessel and crew in the North Pacific.

           *          Represented the M/V PAN GRACE in an action for wrongful deaths and personal injury arising from an alleged collision with the Yacht MELINDA LEE in international waters off of New Zealand.

            *          Defended the vessel M/T MINAS LEO in catastrophic injury case filed by a Korean seaman in federal court in San Francisco.  District Court's dismissal of action on grounds of forum non conveniens was affirmed on appeal by the Ninth Circuit.  Chang v. MINAS LEO, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18301 (N.D. Cal.), 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 2235 (9th Cir.).

            *          Defended a major U.S. yacht manufacturer in a major arbitration arising from a yacht fire and multiple wrongful deaths with product liability claims.

            *          Represented shipowner interests in numerous injury and death cases involving longshoremen and seamen, including:

            Davis v. Partenreederei M.S. Normannia, 657 F.2d 1048 (9th Cir. 1981);

            Taylor v. Moram Agencies, 739 F.2d 1384 (9th Cir. 1984);

            Mondor v. The Vessel "HAI MONG", 1996 U.S. App. Lexis 40167, unpublished, reported as Table Case at 97 F.3d 1460 (9th Cir. 1996); and

            Godfrey v. M/V Baronia, 1992 U.S. App. Lexis 2518, unpublished, reported as Table Case at 945 F.2d 1727 (9th Cir. 1992).

            Marine Pollution, Collisions and Groundings

            *          Authored and submitted amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in  United States v. Locke, 529 U.S. 89 (2000) (Intertanko v. Locke).

            *          Represented an oil refinery in consolidated cases arising from a major oil spill from the M/T AMERICAN TRADER off the coast of Southern California.  Slaven v. BP America, Inc., 958 F. Supp. 1472 (C.D. Cal. 1997); and Slaven v. BP America, Inc., 786 F. Supp. 853 (C.D. Cal. 1992).

            *          Defended the M/V PAC BARONESS in limitation of liability and related cross-actions arising from a collision with M/V ATLANTIC WING off the coast of Southern California.

            Ocean Cargo

            *          Acted on behalf of the ocean carrier in the successful trial and appellate defense of an action arising from the overboard loss of containers in heavy weather.  Taisho Fire & Marine v. M/V SEA-LAND ENDURANCE, 815 F.2d 1270 (9th Cir. 1987).

            *          Defended a terminal operator to enforce per package limitation in ocean carrier’s bill of lading in which decision held that “pallets” rather than “pieces” were the relevant COGSA package.  Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. v. Nippon Express U.S.A., Inc., 155 F.Sup.. 1167 (C.D. Cal.), aff’d, 2002 U.S.App. LEXIS 18186 (9th Cir. 2002).

            *          Represented vessel interests in limitation and administrative proceedings arising out of the loss of coconut oil that was jettisoned after owner's vessel grounded on a coral reef at Koror, Palau.  In Re Complaint of M/V BOWOON SANGSA Co., Ltd., 720 F.2d 595 (9th Cir. 1983).

            *          On behalf of ocean carrier, obtained a transfer of a case from a North Dakota state court to the courts of Japan pursuant to a bill of lading forum selection clause, in Barbara Lloyd Designs, Inc. v. Mitsui O.S.K. Line, 2003 A.M.C. 2608 (D. N.D. 2003).

                        Intermodal

            *          Acted on behalf of vessel interests in obtaining reversal of an adverse decision concerning liability arising from the involvement of interchanged intermodal equipment in a fatal traffic accident in National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. Showa Shipping Co., Ltd., 47 F.3rd 316 (9th Cir. 1995).

            *          On behalf of vessel interests, obtained full recovery of damages and legal fees in a high exposure multi-death accident (involving the carrier’s chassis that had been interchanged to a trucker) by enforcing indemnity provisions in the bill of lading.  Vega, et al. v. Crowley American Transport, 2000 U.S. LEXIS 1717 (D.P.R. 2000).

            *          Represented vessel interests nationwide in a series of cases involving claims of property damage and indemnity among shippers, freight forwarders, ocean carriers and railroads.

            Maritime Contracts and Liens

            *          Authored and submitted amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in Shute v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 499 U.S. 585 (1991).

            *          On behalf of multiple shipowners, defended a class action brought by seamen for maintenance and cure in Gardiner v. Sea-Land Service, Inc., 786 F.2d 943 (9th Cir. 1986).

            *          Represented maritime interests in a major contractual dispute in In re Chugach Forest Products, Inc., 23 F.3d 241 (9th Cir. 1994).

            *          Acted on behalf of an unpaid global transportation and logistics provider transporting of dozens of containers full of toys at the time of the bankruptcy of a leading retailer.

            *          On behalf of numerous unpaid container lessors, prosecuted actions to recover containers from defaulting lessees in bankruptcy proceedings.

            *          Represented a prominent bank to recover on defaulted note in the arrest of a pleasure boat.

             Global Transportation and Logistics Providers / Air Cargo

            *          Defended an indirect air carrier in connection with a claim for loss of a high value shipment of computer parts, obtaining summary judgment of non-liability to the plaintiff based on a contractual suit-time limitation in the house air waybill.  Also defeated the actual air carrier’s effort to limit liability for indemnity based on its air waybill.  Seagate Technologies LLC v. Dalian China Express, 169 F. Supp.2d 1137 (N. D. Cal. 2001) (indemnity limitation issue); Seagate Technologies LLC v. Dalian China Express, 169 F. Supp.2d 1146 (N. D. Cal. 2001) (summary judgment against plaintiff shipper).

            *          Acted on behalf of an indirect air carrier in defending a claim alleging theft of computer products from a warehouse prior to air carriage.  Obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, limiting liability based upon weight of stolen cargo, approximately 1/80th of the actual value of the cargo.  Albingia Versicherungs, A.G. v. Schenker International, 350 F.3d 916 (9th Cir. 2003).

  COMMERCIAL AND TECHNOLOGY LAW

            *          Defended inventor’s interest against a patent infringement claim.  Summary judgment by the trial court was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.  Laitram Corporation, et al. v. Morehouse Industries, Inc., et al., 143 F.3d 1456 (Fed. Cir. 1998).

            *          Defended the State of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), its Governor, other Government officials and state-owned corporations in Grant, et al. v. The State of Yap, et al., (D.C. Hawaii); and Gemini Capital Group, Inc., et al. v. Yap Fishing Corporation, et al., 150 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 1998), in which the Ninth Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s dismissal of the case on grounds of  forum non conveniens, requiring all disputes to be litigated in the FSM courts.

            *          Represented a cruise line in connection with a copyright infringement claim by a movie studio against the cruise line for alleged unauthorized copying and viewing of a feature film onboard a cruise ship in Universal Studios v. Holland American Lines, (C.D. Cal).

            *          Acted on behalf of a cruise line in defending against consumer class-action claims relating to various promotions that allegedly resulted in different pricing programs offered to different passengers.

            *          Represented of a Taiwanese technology company in a successful prosecution of an action in federal district court based upon claims for copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition relating to the source code for software for wireless networking products.

            *          Defended a hospital in Southern California in more than 125 cases in state and federal court relating to the storage and use of human ova and embryos.

  INSURANCE COVERAGE

          *          Acted on behalf of Underwriters in voiding a policy of insurance for non-disclosure of materials facts in coverage of a 70-foot yacht that mysteriously "disappeared" in Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's v. Montford, 52 F.3d 219. (9th Cir. 1995).

            *          Represented a major Spanish citrus grower and packer in a claim against its cargo insurer for shipments of oranges that deteriorated during ocean carriage from Spain to various U.S. destinations during a year when a major freeze in California depleted the domestic supply.

           *          Acted on behalf of the subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company in a series of coverage actions against foreign and domestic fleet credit risk insurers, resulting in recovery of almost $20 million.

            *          Represented an international underwriter in an arbitration of a claim involving multiple insurance policies and underlying contractual indemnity provisions relating to an underlying significant personal injury claim that had been settled by the insurers without prejudice to their respective rights and liabilities.

           *          Defended a prominent Hawaii law firm in a malpractice/breach of fiduciary duty action, the successful defense of which rested on voiding the underlying marine insurance policy under maritime law.

            *          Represented an ocean carrier in a marine insurance coverage/bad faith action, resulting in mid-litigation change of course by insurance company to unconditionally provide coverage and to pay fees incurred by carrier in prosecution of coverage action.