Comprehensive Legal Services From Mt. Pleasant Maritime Attorneys
ADMIRALTY LAW APPLIES TO COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL VESSELS ALIKE
Our Charleston, SC Maritime Attorneys cover the waterfront in the field of maritime and admiralty law. We represent crew members, boat owners, captains, commercial shipping companies, injured commercial seamen, people injured in pleasure boating accidents and others. We handle local legal claims as well as claims in other locations on behalf of local clients.
Our Charleston, South Carolina, maritime law attorneys can help with a wide range of maritime legal issues (click on the links for additional information for each specific area):
- Are you buying, selling, or chartering a boat?
- Are you a captain or crew member injured while working on a tug, dredge, barge, or ship?
- Do you need legal counsel on a maritime contract or any other contract ?
- Are you an owner, charterer or captain of a vessel involved in a casualty?
- Have you been injured in a recreational boating accident ?
- Do you need to enforce or defend against a maritime lien or vessel arrest ?
- Do you need advice on Regulatory Compliance or Risk Management Strategies for your maritime business?
- Do you Have a Preferred Ship Mortgage issue?
- Are you an injured Jones Act seaman?
- Do you have questions regarding marine insurance ?
- Do you have a cargo damage claim?
- Do you have questions regarding a salvage claim?
- Are you an injured Longshoreman, Harborworker, or Defense Base Contractor?
- Do you need help bringing or defending against Environmental Pollution Claims?
- Have you suffered personal injury or property damage because of a defective vessel or defective equipment?
If your legal needs involve these or any of the myriad of other potential admiralty and maritime law issues, please contact the Experienced Charleston, SC Maritime Lawyers at Cooper and Bilbrey, P.C. in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. We can explain your options and what we can do to assist you.
Admiralty Jurisdiction and Choice of Forum
Because admiralty law is different from landside law in many respects, one of the first steps that must be taken in any case is to determine which body of law will apply. The admiralty preemption doctrine provides that most maritime matters are of such national (rather than local) character and concern that federal law pertaining to such matters takes precedence over state law.
Generally, the courts of the states have concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts over claims within the scope of federal admiralty jurisdiction. Whenever claims are within the scope of federal admiralty jurisdiction, the plaintiff may choose — with certain exceptions — to bring his or her action in state court, with the right to a jury trial, or federal court, with no right to a jury trial. If there is a basis for federal jurisdiction independent of admiralty jurisdiction, a plaintiff may choose to bring his or her action in federal court, on the civil side, with the right to a jury trial. The Jones Act — enacted to protect seamen employed on ships and sea-going vessels — provides for the right to a jury trial in state or federal courts.
At Cooper and Bilbrey, P.C., our attorneys are experienced at choosing the right forum for each case. If you have questions regarding admiralty and maritime law, please call or email us for a free, confidential consultation with no obligation.
