Maritime Jurisdiction in State-Court Injury Cases

Christopher M. Hannan, Partner | Jones Walker LLP

Chris Hannan is a partner in the Maritime Practice Group at Jones Walker LLP and a member of the firm’s maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team. He represents clients across the maritime, insurance, and energy sectors in high-stakes litigation and complex regulatory and contractual matters, both domestically and internationally. A nationally recognized maritime and offshore energy counselor with deep experience in admiralty law, marine insurance, and offshore energy matters, his practice spans both the blue and brown water industries as well as offshore infrastructure and operations. He has served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile cases involving the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), vessel collisions and allisions (commercial and recreational), oyster bed and other environmental damage claims, cargo and ocean shipping disputes (including before the Federal Maritime Commission), marine insurance coverage, and limitation of liability actions. His practice also includes advising on indemnity, insurance, and risk allocation in maritime contracts and representing clients in commercial disputes involving shipbuilding, coastwise trade issues, maritime liens, vessel arrests, and anti-indemnity statutes. He has represented clients in multidistrict litigation, arbitrations before various tribunals, proceedings before multiple regulatory bodies (including the US Coast Guard, US Customs and Border Protection, and the US Department of the Interior’s Interior Board of Land Appeals), and appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. His work has led to precedent-setting decisions in maritime law, including successful wrongful arrest in rem claims and constitutional challenges in foreign jurisdictions. Before joining Jones Walker, Chris completed a two-month secondment as a claims handler with a Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate and a fixed-premium protection and indemnity insurer, where he managed a wide range of claims involving vessel operations and general marine matters. Beyond his legal practice, Chris is also a published poet whose work has appeared in numerous journals and magazines; he was selected as the runner-up in the 2010 Faulkner-Wisdom Poetry Contest for his poem Epithalamion and as the grand prize winner in the 2011 Tennessee Williams Festival Poetry Contest for his five-part poem The Nephilim, and his first book-length selection of poems, Alluvial Cities, was published by Texas Review Press in July 2015 after its selection as winner of the 2014 Southern Breakthrough Prize for best unpublished manuscript.

• Education & Credentials

Chris earned his JD, magna cum laude, from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2008, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola Law Review and was named a William L. Crowe Sr. Scholar. He was a Brief Writer and Oralist on the Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition Moot Court Team, received the 2008 Loyola University “Spirit of Ignatius” Award, and earned Law Excellence Awards in Civil Procedure I, Legal Research & Writing, Civil Law Property II, Maritime Personal Injury, Evidence, Law of the European Union I, Courts in a Federal System, and Community Property. He earned his BA in Classics, summa cum laude, from the College of the Holy Cross in 2004, where he was a Henry Bean, S.J. Classics Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is admitted to the Louisiana bar, as well as to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the US District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chris has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Admiralty and Maritime Law (2020–2025) and Insurance Law (2023–2025). He has been listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers for Transportation/Maritime annually since 2022 and was previously named a “Rising Star” in Transportation/Maritime (2015–2021). He was named among Thomson Reuters 2025 Stand-out Lawyers and has been listed as a New Orleans Magazine Top Lawyer annually since 2017. Earlier in his career, he served as a judicial clerk in 2008 for Judge Carl J. Barbier of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

• Professional Involvement

Chris is a frequent writer and speaker on maritime law and offshore wind development and previously served as associate editor for American Maritime Cases. He is actively involved in the Maritime Law Association of the United States, where he serves on its Board of Directors (2024–2027 term) and holds several leadership roles, including Chair of the International Organizations, Conventions and Standards Committee and Chair of the Offshore Vessels Subcommittee of the Offshore Industries Committee. He is a member of Comité Maritime International and serves on its working group addressing offshore wind issues and international uniformity. His additional memberships and affiliations include the American Bar Association, the Association of Average Adjusters of the US and Canada (2023), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Working Group on Standardized Integrated Ecosystem-Based Assessment, the Federal Bar Association, Friends of City Park, the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Oceantic Network (where he serves as Co-Chair of the Gulf of Mexico Working Group, 2023), the Port of New Orleans, the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute National Advisory Board’s Planning and Program Committee, and the Young Leadership Council.

• Experience

Chris’s representative experience reflects the breadth of his maritime and offshore practice. He represented the London insurance market in connection with the Deepwater Horizon MDL and the sinking of the Petronius platform off the coast of Alabama and represented cargo shippers in charge complaints before the FMC relating to detention and demurrage under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 and subsequent regulations. He represented vessel owners in a complex, multiparty, multi-venue commercial dispute involving a first-impression issue of maritime law concerning a vessel management agreement, prevailing on wrongful arrest claims in one of only a few reported successful wrongful arrest claims in Louisiana in the past 20 years and briefing and arguing multiple issues on consolidated appeals in the Fifth Circuit. Acting as American general maritime law counsel for cargo interests in a damage suit in the Republic of the Marshall Islands arising out of a two-vessel collision off the coast of Vietnam, he defeated a forum non conveniens transfer motion and prevailed before the Marshall Islands Supreme Court on threshold constitutional, statutory, and international treaty issues regarding limitation of shipowner liability, resulting in an additional net potential gain to clients of approximately $10 million. He represented a dredge company in oil spill, property damage, and lost product claims arising from an allision between a dredge and a pipeline, obtaining summary judgment under Louisiana’s “One Call” statute and the Robins Dry Dock rule and prevailing in the Fifth Circuit on appeal. His experience also includes representing a Louisiana inshore oil and gas exploration company through trial and appeals to the Louisiana Supreme Court regarding oyster bed damage claims; representing a pipeline owner/operator in oyster bed damage claims tied to a decommissioning project; representing a recreational vessel owner in a two-vessel collision involving a fatality; and representing inshore oil and gas exploration companies in claims involving allisions between commercial vessels and oil platforms in Louisiana state waters. He has represented vessel companies and offshore service providers in personal injury and indemnity claims under the general maritime law/Jones Act and state law via the OCSLA, including obtaining summary judgment dismissal of indemnity claims under the Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act and dismissal of personal injury claims based on borrowing employer immunity. Additional matters include obtaining summary judgment dismissal of a maritime lien claim on behalf of a mortgage-holding lender in a vessel mortgage foreclosure action and prevailing on a motion to dismiss the appeal under the “useless judgment” doctrine; serving as trial counsel in a seven-day, $58 million fraudulent transfer case under Texas fraudulent transfer law and obtaining a verdict for the plaintiff; obtaining a temporary restraining order for a vessel owner in a shipyard contract dispute; obtaining Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of claims against hull and machinery underwriters arising from a jack-up vessel grounding; obtaining orders in two federal jurisdictions under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 authorizing discovery in aid of foreign proceedings regarding a general average claim; securing a favorable result for a bridge owner against allision claims involving a tug and crane barge on the Atchafalaya River; obtaining summary judgment dismissals in slip-and-fall cases under the Louisiana independent contractor defense and on a no-unreasonably-dangerous-hazard finding; obtaining a 12(b)(6) dismissal of contract claims by an alien corporation based on lack of prudential standing; assisting a solid waste services company in reaching a compliance solution with the Coast Guard regarding oilfield waste barge operations in the Gulf of Mexico; and representing an insurance company in an international dispute over damage to a major submarine power cable, obtaining dismissal of the multimillion-dollar case on prediscovery threshold motions, subsequently affirmed by the Fifth Circuit.

Sara B. Kuebel, Partner | Jones Walker LLP

Sara B. Kuebel is a partner in the Jones Walker Maritime Practice Group. She advises clients in a broad range of disputes, with a concentration in maritime litigation, including allisions and collisions and claims under General Maritime Law, the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. She has experience litigating various matters, having assisted with numerous bench and jury trials in both federal and state court, as well as multiple arbitral hearings, and has handled multiple appeals to Louisiana appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, including assisting in the drafting of amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. She also advises clients on commercial matters such as the drafting of charter party agreements, master service agreements, and other transportation-related contracts.

• Education & Credentials

Sara earned her J.D./D.C.L. summa cum laude from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 2018, where she was a member of the Louisiana Law Review, served on the National Champion Team in the John R. Brown National Admiralty Moot Court Competition, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She earned her B.A. in Political Science cum laude from Louisiana State University in 2015. She is admitted to the bars of Louisiana and Texas, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana and the Southern District of Texas.

• Recognition & Leadership

Sara has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in Transportation/Maritime by Louisiana Super Lawyers (2025, 2026) and listed by The Legal 500 United States in Transport – Shipping: Litigation and Regulation (2023, 2024) and as a “Leading Associate” in that category (listed annually since 2025). She has been named to Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch” in Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants and Transportation Law (2022–2026) and is a recipient of the American Law Institute’s Leadership and Scholarship Award.

• Professional Involvement

Sara is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and the Maritime Law Association of the United States. She serves on the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Young Leadership Council and as President of the New Orleans Chapter of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association. She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at LSU Law, teaching a course on maritime commerce, and is a frequent author and presenter on maritime law topics ranging from personal injury to offshore wind to maritime liens. She is also co-author of two maritime law books, Admiralty in a Nutshell and Cases and Materials on Maritime Law, both published by West Academic.

John A. “Jack” Martone, Senior Vice President | AEU Advisory

Services, The American Equity Underwriters, Inc.
John A. “Jack” Martone serves as Senior Vice President, AEU Advisory Services, at The American Equity Underwriters, Inc. (AEU), which he joined in 2006. He has decades of experience working in all aspects of the Longshore Act and leads AEU Advisory Services. Prior to AEU, Jack served for 27 years in the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, as Chief, Branch of Insurance, Financial Management, and Assessments and as Acting Director, Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation. He is a contributor to and moderator of the AEU Longshore Insider Blog, where he addresses the Longshore Act terms and conditions that matter most in practice for maritime employers, brokers, and claims professionals.

• Education & Credentials

Jack earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and a Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University School of Law.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jack has been named to the board of directors of the Longshore Claims Association, a nonprofit organization of claims professionals serving the shipping industry and longshore and stevedoring communities. Within his federal career, he served as Acting Director, Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation, and as Chief, Branch of Insurance, Financial Management, and Assessments. As Branch Chief, he directed the licensing and regulation of insurance carriers and self-insured employers under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.

• Professional Involvement

At The American Equity Underwriters, Inc., Jack serves as Senior Vice President, AEU Advisory Services, a role he has held since 2006, and he acts as the moderator of the AEU Longshore Blog. He also sits on the board of directors of the Longshore Claims Association, a nonprofit organization of claims professionals serving the shipping industry and longshore and stevedoring communities.

• Experience

Jack served for 27 years in various positions with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, as Chief, Branch of Insurance, Financial Management, and Assessments and as Acting Director, Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation. As Branch Chief, he directed the licensing and regulation of insurance carriers and self-insured employers under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. Since joining AEU in 2006, he has applied this background across all aspects of the Longshore Act through AEU Advisory Services.

Markus E. Apelis, Partner | Gallagher Sharp LLP

Markus E. Apelis is a Partner at Gallagher Sharp LLP and head of the firm’s Admiralty and Maritime practice group. He maintains a diverse commercial transportation practice focused on the maritime and rail industries. In the marine industry, he represents vessel owners and operators in serious marine casualties, including crew injury or death, collisions, allisions, groundings, and fires, and his admiralty and maritime practice extends to personal injury or property damage matters arising out of the use of personal watercraft. An important component of his practice is providing emergency response and investigative services with respect to maritime and rail emergencies and other catastrophic events.

• Education & Credentials

Markus graduated in 2008 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and was admitted to practice law in 2008. He has been designated as a Proctor in Admiralty by the Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA), the highest membership category for practicing lawyers, awarded only after meeting stringent professional and educational requirements.

• Recognition & Leadership

Markus serves as head of Gallagher Sharp’s Admiralty and Maritime practice group. He has been designated a Proctor in Admiralty by the Maritime Law Association of the United States, a distinction recognizing his significant contributions to the field of maritime law and his dedication to advancing the administration of justice in admiralty matters. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers in Transportation/Maritime and Civil Litigation: Defense, earning the distinction for 2024 through 2026.

• Professional Involvement

Markus is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, an organization comprising lawyers, judges, law professors, and non-lawyers who hold responsible positions in the maritime field. Beyond his maritime work, he also actively defends public and private companies, individuals, and insurance carriers facing litigation involving catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death claims in the firm’s General Liability Group, which includes defending municipalities, school districts, government agencies, elected officials, and public-sector employees against municipal liability claims.

• Experience

Markus represents shippers, charterers, logistics providers, and others in cargo claims and contractual disputes, as well as marine facilities against property damage and personal injury claims. In the rail industry, he defends railroads against employee injuries, grade crossing collisions, and property damage claims, and provides advice on regulatory and administrative enforcement, real property issues, eminent domain, and other matters. His municipal liability experience includes defending school boards and school administrators in complex litigation arising out of catastrophic events such as school shootings, sexual abuse claims, and student injuries.

Jason R. Harris, Partner | Farrell Smith O’Connell Aarsheim Aprans LLP

Jason R. Harris is a Partner at Farrell Smith O’Connell Aarsheim Aprans LLP, where he represents and advises clients in a variety of admiralty and maritime law matters as well as general litigation, transportation, and construction matters. He frequently represents clients and insurers in the defense and prosecution of serious bodily injuries, fatalities, casualties, marine salvage, wreck removal, catastrophic property damage events, and construction disputes, and has extensive experience providing counsel on corporate and risk management issues. Before joining FSO, Jason practiced as a partner in other firms in Southeastern North Carolina, with offices in Wilmington (New Hanover County) and Jacksonville (Onslow County). He also took a hiatus from private practice to serve as General Counsel, Director of Legal, and Corporate Secretary for an international marine salvage, wreck removal, decommissioning, and underwater services company headquartered in Houston, Texas, with operational headquarters in Holland.

• Education & Credentials

Jason earned his LL.M. in Ocean and Coastal Law from the University of Miami School of Law (2001), his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law (2000), and his B.A. from Auburn University (1997). He is admitted to practice in North Carolina (2001), Texas (2015), and Virginia (2021), as well as before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has also been admitted pro hac vice for particular cases in other states, including South Carolina, Tennessee, Montana, and Colorado.

• Recognition & Leadership

In October 2025, Jason was included in the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly 2025 Powerlist – Admiralty Law. He has been selected for The Best Lawyers in America in Admiralty and Maritime Law (2019–2024) and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants (2019–2024) and was named Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Admiralty and Maritime Law (2022 and 2024). He was selected for North Carolina Super Lawyers in Transportation/Maritime (2021–2023) and is Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated (2018). Within the Maritime Law Association of the United States, he serves as a Proctor Member and Vice Chair of the Marine Torts and Casualties Committee, and previously served as a Director and Salvage Committee Chairman.

• Professional Involvement

Jason is a Proctor Member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, where he serves on the Nominating Committee and as Vice Chair of the Marine Torts and Casualties Committee. He is a member of the Eastern District of North Carolina Local Admiralty Rules Committee and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute and serves as Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee of the Jacksonville-Onslow County Chamber of Commerce. He is a Co-Founder of the Cape Fear Auburn Club, former Legal Counsel to the American Salvage Association, and a former member and General Counsel of the International Association of Marine Investigators. Jason is also a frequent speaker and author, having presented to maritime stakeholders, insurers, surveyors, and adjusters on topics including marine salvage, the Limitation of Liability Act, maritime presumptions, and evidence preservation in maritime casualties; in March 2026 he presented a CLE on An Introduction to Maritime and Admiralty Law for Lorman.

• Experience

Jason’s practice spans admiralty and maritime law, transportation law, and construction law. He represents clients and insurers in serious bodily injury, fatality, casualty, marine salvage, wreck removal, and catastrophic property damage matters. As in-house General Counsel for an international marine services company, he assisted in implementing a merger, advised the board of directors and management on legal affairs, oversaw an international legal and risk management team, performed extensive business contract reviews, and designed a regulatory compliance program. His business dealings have taken him across the United States and to international destinations including Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, Denmark, England, the Netherlands, and Costa Rica. Jason also served in the Alabama and North Carolina Army National Guard as a military policeman and a Judge Advocate General Legal Assistant, with duties in Panama, Germany, and domestic locations, before being honorably discharged in 2000.

Marissa A. Dunsmore, Associate | Farrell Smith O’Connell Aarsheim Aprans LLP

Marissa Amy Dunsmore is an Associate at Farrell Smith O’Connell Aarsheim Aprans LLP, where she practices in admiralty and maritime law and personal injury. She approaches her work with a client-focused, outcome-driven perspective, emphasizing clear communication, careful analysis, and practical solutions tailored to each client’s objectives. A southeastern North Carolina native from Leland, she enjoys the coastal lifestyle and is an avid beach volleyball player.

• Education & Credentials

Marissa earned her Juris Doctor from Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2024. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Education from East Carolina University (2015), where she also graduated magna cum laude. She is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

• Recognition & Leadership

While at Campbell Law, Marissa served as Managing Editor of the Campbell Law Review, Volume 46, as a Torts teaching scholar, and as a research assistant. She graduated magna cum laude from both Campbell Law and East Carolina University.

• Professional Involvement

Marissa’s practice focuses on admiralty and maritime law and personal injury. Her background in education informs her legal practice, particularly her ability to explain complex concepts clearly, remain attentive to client concerns, and approach each matter with preparation and discipline.

• Experience

Prior to joining the firm, Marissa served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jefferey Carpenter of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, where she had previously interned during law school for both Judge Carpenter and newly-elected Judge Julee Flood. As a clerk, she conducted in-depth legal research and drafted opinions on complex legal issues, refining her ability to anticipate legal challenges, think strategically, and craft precise, persuasive legal reasoning. She is also a former public school dance teacher.

SESSION 1 – Seaman Status, LHWCA, OCSLA, Removal, Remand, State Comp Boundary | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

State-court practitioners learn to classify maritime workers using the Chandris seaman-status test, LHWCA status and situs and the § 905(b) third-party claim, OCSLA offshore coverage, the state-compensation boundary, and removal and remand in maritime jurisdiction disputes.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – The Uncertain Overlap: Longshore, Jones Act, General Maritime | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This examines how Longshore coverage and exposure are determined, the Longshore–Jones Act divide and seaman status, concurrent jurisdiction where Longshore and state compensation overlap, and General Maritime Law remedies and their interaction with statutory compensation.

BREAK | 2:10pm – 2:20pm

SESSION 3 – Vessel Casualty and Recreational Cases: Collisions, Allisions, Admiralty | 2:20pm – 3:20pm

Attorneys apply the Grubart two-part location-and-connection test to vessel casualties and the maritime liability presumptions, recreational boating, personal-watercraft, marina and property disputes, and the savings-to-suitors clause and the state-court strategy it permits.

BREAK | 3:20pm – 3:30pm

SESSION 4 – State Tort Reform v. The General Maritime Law | 3:30pm – 4:30pm

This addresses application of state tort reform laws in a maritime tort case, evidence of medical expenses and joint and several liability, crafting pleadings and arguments in multi-jurisdictional practice, and recent case law implicating the conflict-of-law issue.