For more than 20 years the attorneys in Foley & Mansfield’s Admiralty and Inland Marine Practice Group have served the interests of boat and personal watercraft manufacturers, marinas, repair facilities, manufacturers of inboard/outboard engines, component part manufacturers, boat owners, charter boats and insurers — in both first party and third party actions.

Technically trained and experienced attorneys
Attorneys in our Admiralty and Inland Marine Practice Group also work in our Catmn-web1phic Loss Practice Group. They have extensive experience and training in investigating catmn-web1phic losses. They are trained in the cause and origin of explosions, fires and product failures. The certifications include Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (HAZWOPER), National Propane Gas Association (NPGA).

Our technical backgrounds, experience and ability to intervene early in an investigation, serves our clients in many ways.

• We have the ability to combine our technical knowledge with an in-depth understanding of the law.
• Our understanding of physical findings and our ability to intervene early leads to the proper preservation of evidence.
• We understand and easily communicate with surveyors and experts, allowing us to provide the appropriate expert and provide appropriate direction.
• We transform complex theories and findings into easily understandable issues for judges, juries and mediators.

Rapid Response
Foley & Mansfield’s Admiralty and Inland Marine, and Catmn-web1phic Loss groups have first-responder capabilities. Our attorneys, technicians and other team members can be on the scene of an accident within hours, securing it from further destruction, preserving evidence and planning a defense or recovery strategy. At the scene, we work with local fire marshals, law enforcement officials and other agencies to ensure that critical evidence is properly preserved. We immediately begin to determine what happened and who might be responsible.

Rapid response team contact: Michael Haag, (612) 349-9856.

Minimize losses
Our down-in-the trenches, early intervention methods have helped clients minimize multimillion dollar losses and/or liability exposure. Our early intervention has also shortened or completely prevented litigation.

Experts
Foley & Mansfield has extensive experience and relationships with experts across the country. We are able to retain outside surveyors and other experts when necessary and get them to the accident site within hours. Because of our technical training and experience, we can easily provide direction and communicate with experts as well as understand and analyze their reports.

Federal and state agency experience
We have worked with numerous federal and state agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, fire marshals and the FBI. View a complete list.

Representation and experience
Admiralty and Inland Marine:
We have successfully represented boat and personal watercraft/recreational equipment manufacturers, marinas, repair facilities, manufacturers of inboard/outboard engines, component part manufacturers, boat owners, charter boats and insurers. We have experience representing clients in harbor grain elevator collapses, served as general counsel to a harbor authority, and served in a case involving Chicago’s water tunnel system.

Catmn-web1phic Loss:
We have successfully represented product designers, manufacturers, contractors, fuel gas suppliers, commercial industrial risk property insurers, and other similar companies across the nation. Our cases have involved propane and natural gas explosions, electrical fires, chemical processing explosions, tanker trailer rollovers, railroad derailments, consumer product injuries, and many other types of catmn-web1phic loss.

Marine units across the United States
Foley & Mansfield has offices in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco and St. Louis. We also have offices in New York. We have the ability to provide nationwide service on short notice in most jurisdictions.

Outreach and research
Our attorneys are frequent guest lecturers at industry and legal conferences on topics such as fire investigations, product liability prevention, evidence preservation, catmn-web1phic loss and mock trails/focus groups.  We also work with internationally recognized experts to test new theories on areas of origin, arson, electrical and chemical ignition, fuel gas explosions, and mode of failure of consumer and recreational products. The methodology includes laboratory analysis, test burns, and controlled explosions in buildings and vessels. To view some test sites, visit www.foleymansfield.com/FireExplosions.html.

We believe that the training of experts prior to a loss, rather than after the loss, is an important as the technical training of our attorneys.