James E Mercante

July 11, 2024 | New York Law Journal

Count a gritty marine insurer as part of the exclusive Supreme Court's 9-0 club; winners by knockout in a hotly contested marine insurance dispute that braved its way from the District of Pennsylvania to the Third Circuit and ultimately landed in the Supreme Court.

By James E. Mercante

6 minute read

February 27, 2024 | New York Law Journal

In his Admiralty Law column, James E. Mercante discusses the collision between Navy warship USS John S. McCain and oil and chemical tanker Alnic MC, as well as the trial that followed in the Southern District of New York.

By James E. Mercante

9 minute read

November 30, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Leaving passengers stranded on a vessel in extremis is not only against maritime tradition, but the optics are very bad, particularly with a jury. The captain of the dive boat Conception recently learned this lesson the hard way.

By James E. Mercante

8 minute read

August 07, 2023 | New York Law Journal

A massive investigation regarding the Titan submersible is underway that could lead to regulatory changes to improve safety at sea and potentially yield civil and criminal referrals.

By James E. Mercante

9 minute read

April 19, 2023 | New York Law Journal

Perhaps admiralty is a welcome deviation from the rocks, reefs and shoals the Supreme Court must navigate in hard-core and politicized cases involving civil rights, abortion, gun control, criminal law and politics.

By James E. Mercante

7 minute read

November 28, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Since Russia's invasion of the Ukraine, assets of billionaire oligarchs (particularly super yachts) have become targets to be seized and confiscated no matter where they are in the world … except of course Russia.

By James E. Mercante

7 minute read

February 25, 2022 | New York Law Journal

Crystal Cruises may be down for the count, but was it the pandemic that dealt the final blow?

By James E. Mercante

6 minute read

July 07, 2021 | New York Law Journal

It is said that a collision at sea will ruin your whole day. But today, any type of major marine casualty will be agonizing and costly for years, as evidenced by the examples discussed by James E. Mercante in this edition of his Admiralty Law column.

By James E. Mercante

8 minute read

February 24, 2021 | New York Law Journal

In their Admiralty Law column, James E. Mercante and Kristin E. Poling analyze the doctrine of "uberrimae fidei", one of the oldest and deeply entrenched of all maritime laws, which so often causes unwary mariners to run aground.

By James E. Mercante and Kristin E. Poling

10 minute read

October 29, 2020 | New York Law Journal

In their Admiralty Law column, James E. Mercante and Kristin E. Poling discuss how federal courts helped right some serious maritime wrongs, with decisions paving the way for landmark Supreme Court rulings such as the Amistad.

By  James E. Mercante and Kristin E. Poling

9 minute read