In a nutshell

Shipping lawyers deal with the carriage of goods or people by sea, plus any and every matter related to the financing, construction, use, insurance and decommissioning of the ships that carry them (or are arrested, sunk or salvaged while carrying them). Despite being the preserve of specialist firms, or relatively self-contained practice groups within larger firms, the discipline offers varied challenges. The major division is between 'wet' work relating to accidents or misadventure at sea, and 'dry' work involving the land-based, commercial and contractual side. In extension, disputes or litigation relating to contracts means there is also a contentious side to dry work. While some lawyers in the area may be generalists, it is more common to specialise.

Wet lawyers  

• Act swiftly and decisively at a moment’s notice to protect a client’s interests and minimise any loss.
• Travel the world to assess the condition of ships, interview crew or witnesses and prepare cases.
• Take witness statements and advise clients on the merits of and strategy for cases.
• Handle court and arbitration appearances, conferences with barristers and client meetings.

Dry lawyers 

• Negotiate and draft contracts for ship finance and shipbuilding, crew employment, sale and purchase agreements, affreightment contracts, and the registration and re-flagging of ships.
• May specialise in niche areas such as yachts or fishing, an area in which regulatory issues feature prominently.
• Handle similar tasks to wet lawyers in relation to contractual disputes but are less likely to jet off around the world at the drop of a hat.

The realities of the job

• Wet work offers the excitement of international assignments and clients, so lawyers need to react coolly to sudden emergencies and travel to far-flung places to offer practical and pragmatic analysis and advice.
• Despite the perils and pleasures of dealing with clients and instructions on the other side of the world, the hours are likely to be steady beyond those international-rescue moments.
• Non-contentious work touches on the intricacies of international trade, so it’s as important to keep up with sector knowledge as legal developments.
• Dealing with a mixed clientele from all points on the social compass, you’ll need to be just as comfortable extracting a comprehensible statement from a Norwegian merchant seaman as conducting negotiations with major financiers.
• Contentious cases are driven by the procedural rules and timetable of the court or arbitration forum to which the matter has been referred. A solid grasp of procedure is as important as a strong foundation in tort and contract law.
• Some shipping lawyers do come from a naval background or are ex-mariners, but you won’t be becalmed if the closest comparable experience you’ve had is steering Tommy Tugboat in the bath, as long as you can show a credible interest in the discipline.
• Though not an all-boys club, parts of the shipping world are still male dominated. Women lawyers and clients are more commonly found on the dry side.
• In the UK, shipping law is centred around London and a few other port cities. Major international centres include Piraeus in Greece, Hong Kong and Singapore. Some trainees even get to work in these locations.

Current issues

• The shipping market was quite severely blown off course in the recession. Some suggested that the top end of the market plummeted between 90% and 100% in a matter of weeks.
• The global shipping market remains volatile. Some areas areas are slowly recovering, but tanker and dry bulk rates are still dire.
• Decreased demand for raw materials and a fall in commodity and oil prices has hit the industry hard. Because shipments and ships are big, slow and expensive, the shipping market is not very versatile.
• The tonnage on order at shipyards has increased over the last year, but shipping finance is still in the doldrums and remains at an all time low. New deals are being done though. For example, Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines recently secured $1.1bn worth of financing for the building of 12 new container ships.
• As this example indicated the Asian market is doing better than most, with the Chinese government providing financial backing and Chinese commercial banks doing a lot of lending and investing large amounts of money.
• Charter party contracts were put under pressure when value fell out of the shipping industry, leading to a large increase in disputes over shipments.
• The amount of contentious work arising directly out of the economic crisis has tailed off to a degree, as contracts have been renegotiated and remaining businesses have stabilised their positions in the market.
• Shipping is potentially very sensitive to corruption because of its international nature, so the 2010 Bribery Act is having a big impact.
• Piracy remains a significant concern; however legal involvement tends to focus primarily on the status of a ship when seized – ie was it on hire during that period? – to establish who is responsible for the costs incurred. Actual prosecution of pirates remains rare, although in June 2010 a special court to try suspected pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden opened in the Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa, Kenya. The future of that court and how pirates will be prosecuted in future remains uncertain. As yet, pirates have not been brought to trial in the UK, although there have been some civil cases and arbitrations.

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