St. Louis Inland Maritime Law Seminar Reboots
A valued seminar focusing on inland marine issues in maritime law is back after a COVID-19 hiatus.
Originally, the St. Louis Inland Marine Seminar was founded by inland maritime attorney veteran Simon Tonkin in 1997, in conjunction with the Bar Association of St. Louis. Over the years, various maritime law firms took turns sponsoring it. In some years it hosted up to 100 attendees. Fox Smith LLC founding partner Ron Fox notes that the Bar Association of St. Louis has decided to realign its efforts away from this seminar.
This year, to replace the Bar Association funding, Fox Smith and The Waterways Journal are stepping up to co-sponsor the seminar. It will be held September 20 at the Missouri Athletic Club, all day from 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. The MAC has hotel rooms available for out-of-town attendees. A networking cocktail party will take place the night before at Carmine’s Steak House, which is nearby in downtown St. Louis.
This year’s topics include “The Future of Containers on the Inland Rivers,” with Sal Litrico, CEO of American Patriot Holdings, giving a presentation. Other topics include “Agreements that Protect Marine Employers”; “Brokers’ Perspectives on Marine Insurance Provisions”; a panel of personal injury damage experts; and a panel on the various factors that influence juries, with panelists including two jury consultants and a former federal judge.
Fox and his partner, Ted Lucas, are well-known maritime attorneys who have broad experience successfully defending hundreds of maritime cases in many jurisdictions throughout the country. Also participating in the seminar are Fox Smith partners Bart Sullivan, Meggie Gentzen and Stas Levchinsky. Each has significant experience defending maritime companies.
“We are excited by the opportunity to continue a seminar for the inland river towing, freight and construction industries that is timely and important to their operations,” Fox told The Waterways Journal. “Our mission is to support these inland companies by providing a practical seminar packed with useful information.”
“The seminar was postponed a couple of years due to the pandemic,” said Lucas. “Now that people seem more willing to attend events like this in person, we hope to return to the strong attendance the seminar enjoyed in past years.”
Registration for the all-day seminar and cocktail party is $240. “We have often heard from attendees that the seminar is very informative and an excellent value,” Fox said. “We plan to provide six hours of continuing education credit for lawyers, as well as for insurance professionals. I sincerely hope the river companies will support this program by attending this year’s seminar. After all, it is designed to support them by providing useful and timely information.”
