New maritime arbitration group formed

New maritime arbitration group formed An organization of maritime attorneys has formed, with a focus of increasing the amount of maritime arbitration done in the United States.
   The Maritime Arbitration Association (MAA) of the United States said it will have representatives in all major active ports and boating centers in the United States.
   Thomas A. Russell, chairman of the group’s executive committee, said the arbitrators will all be “seasoned maritime attorneys” that can be engaged to offer both binding arbitration decisions or to assist parties in resolving a dispute by offering mediation assistance.
   Russell, who is general counsel for the Port of Los Angeles, said the national scope of the group is one aspect that makes it different from organizations such as the Society of Maritime Arbitrators in New York (SMANY), and the Houston Marine Arbitrators Association, which he said “should be applauded for promoting alternate dispute resolution.”
   He believes it is important to have arbitrators located in many ports so that, for example, disputes about cargo, can be conveniently heard near where it was discharged.
   He also believes it is important to have specialists with knowledge of the shipping dispute, saying a general arbitrator may see only one maritime dispute in his entire career.
   All members of the MAA members will be attorneys.
   In contrast, while some members of the New York may have law degrees, SMANY bylaws require members to be “commercial people, recognized as leaders in their respective sectors of the industry, who have held a responsible commercial position for at least ten years,” not active maritime lawyers.
   The New York group is especially renown for its work in charter party disputes, but Russell said the MAA will seek to handle a wide variety of maritime disputes — he’d like to see the group designated on bills of lading to help resolve cargo disputes, on passenger tickets for injuries, shipyard contracts, sales agreements from suppliers, and even in the recreational boating industry.
   Last month the MAA dispute resolution provisions were added to the California Yacht Brokers Association’s 2008 standard form contracts.
   Klaus C.J. Mordhorst, president of SMANY, said the New York group had no official position on the creation of the new organization, simply noting that the attorneys were certainly free to form such a group.
   Attorney Keith Heard, with the law firm of Burke and Parsons, noted that the quantity of arbitration done in New York has slowed in the past 10 years.
   “We don’t really need an organization like this in New York, we still have a good maritime arbitration organization here. Whether this fills a role elsewhere in the country, I really don’t know,” Heard said.
   He added that mediation seemed to be playing a bigger role in resolving maritime disputes elsewhere in the country.
   Heard believes that until recently, arbitrators in London have done a better job of promoting their services, but there has been a renewed effort to reduce that gap.
   He said one reason for an attempt several years ago to form a group, called New York Maritime Inc., was to promote specialists in maritime arbitration and mediation as well as finance, law, insurance for the shipping industry.
   Mordhorst said there has also been some slowing in maritime arbitration because of the boom in the shipping industry. Some parties that might have brought a dispute to arbitration in the past are more willing to reach a commercial settlement, he said.