Best Lawyers in Louisiana, United States for Admiralty and Maritime Law

Rodger focuses on maritime and oilfield transactions and litigation. This includes insurance coverage, marine finance and vessel documentation, litigation, corporate and commercial law, and international transaction primarily in Latin America. Rodger was born in Durham, North Carolina. His educational background includes: Phillips Academy (Andover), 1968; an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, 1972; a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University, 1977; and a Juris Do...

Etienne Balart is a partner in the Maritime and Litigation practice groups, in the Construction Industry Team, and co-leads the firm's Latin America working group. He provides transactional and litigation counsel to clients in the energy and maritime industries. Etienne helps clients identify and quantify financial, compliance, and other risks associated with disputes and litigated matters, negotiate, and, where necessary, bring to trial commercial and other disputes. Relying upon this deep e...

Bert M. Cass Jr., is a jury trial litigator concentrating in the defense of bodily injury and death cases particularly in marine and offshore litigation claims. His practice focuses on representing vessel owners, oil and gas producers, exploration and drilling companies, facility operators, distributors, and offshore service contractors and their insurers against personal injury, wrongful death and survival claims. He is also experienced in energy-related claims, including interpretation of i...

Matthew’s experience and practice primarily includes the representation of shipyards, vessel owners and operators and contractors as well as other businesses in maritime, construction and commercial disputes. This experience includes the defense of Jones Act, Longshore Harbor and Worker’s Compensation Act, and maritime personal injury claims, as well as maritime contractual disputes and maritime property damage matters. Matthew’s experience also includes the defense of insur...

Joshua Rubenstein grew up in New Orleans and was the three-time Louisiana State High School Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking, which meant he was destined to be a trial lawyer. While in law school, he worked as a Judicial Law Clerk to Judge Roland Belsome, then of Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans (New Orleans) and as a judicial extern for Louisiana Fourth Circuit Judge Pattie Murray. Following law school, he worked as Judge Ethel Simms Julien's law clerk and then entered priva...

Michael R.C. Riess is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Admiralty and Maritime Law, Construction Law and Litigation - Construction. Michael R.C., who practices law in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael R.C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael F. Held is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Admiralty and Maritime Law. Michael F., who practices law in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael F. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jim Wright is a partner in the Maritime and Litigation practice groups. He represents clients in a broad range of commercial disputes, regulatory investigations, and criminal cases. Jim has more than four decades of experience as a trial attorney in civil and criminal jury and judge trials in federal and state courts. His areas of practice include maritime, white collar crime, oil and gas regulatory enforcement, environmental, customs, gaming regulatory enforcement, commercial litigation, pro...

Frank Barry is an experienced maritime and energy litigator with successes involving maritime property damage, marine insurance indemnity and coverage claims. Frank also has achieved successful outcomes in insurance broker E&O claims, and in oil and gas claims such as Legacy Oil, on shore blowouts, and operating agreement litigation. With over 30 years of experience, his reported cases include seminal Louisiana caselaw on gas balancing and preferential rights in mineral law (Fina Oil &...

Richard Bertram is a partner in the Maritime Practice Group. Richard has more than 30 years of experience in admiralty and maritime law. He handles a wide range of domestic and international admiralty and maritime matters, including transactions, litigation, arbitration, appellate, regulatory, and administrative law, marine casualty investigations, regulatory compliance, and marine pollution and environmental matters.

Walter Maestri is a maritime attorney working in the offshore fields representing companies that have contracts with oil and gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico. Whether representing the actual platform owner or the service industries that provide support to the oil and gas industry, he defends those companies against personal injury actions, property damage loss, lost oil and gas revenues, or other claims that may arise from operations in the Gulf. Working in partnerships with his clients, W...

Kevin LaVie practices in the area of admiralty and tort. He has a very broad-based practice involving nearly all aspects of maritime law including personal injury and death claims; cargo damage claims; dock damage and collision claims; Limitation of Liability matters; charter party and related commercial disputes (including ship arrests and Rule B attachments); insurance coverage disputes; oilfield indemnity actions; pollution matters; and various Coast Guard and immigration matters. His prac...