Areas of Expertise

Fitzhugh, Elliott & Ammerman P.C. is a maritime law firm specializing in the defense of maritime claims. The maritime issues cover a wide range of topics including personal injuries, the Longshore Act and its extensions, including the Defense Base Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA),cargo damage, charter parties, towers liability, vessel collisions, pollution and environmental liabilities, immigration and customs matters. Insurance matters include interpretation of insurance policies and litigation of coverage questions, aviation issues, employers' liability, and general and contractual liability. The firm has attracted international clients through our successful representation of shipping interests before the U.S. Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service, having been instrumental in formulating effective anti-drug and anti-stowaway strategies for use by ship owners who trade to the United States.

The firm's areas of expertise include:

• Longshore & Harbor
  Workers' Compensation Act
• Defense Base Act
• Non-Appropriated Funds
  Instrumentalities Act
• Outer Continental
  Shelf Lands Act
• Jones Act Defense Claims
• Indemnity issues
• Maritime Jurisdiction
• Charter party disputes
• Cargo claims