Partner
Mr. Fay is a partner in the firm, practicing in the areas of admiralty and maritime, transportation, and insurance coverage. He has been handling litigation matters for U.S. and international clients since 1983. He also has assisted clients with the preparation of contracts for the carriage of goods, the chartering of vessels, and the fleeting and towage of barges and other floating equipment, and with transactions involving the sale, purchase, and documentation of vessels. Prior to his legal training, Mr. Fay sailed as an unlicensed seaman on U.S. merchant vessels for several harbor towing companies, including McAllister Brothers Towing Company and Curtis Bay Towing Company in Philadelphia, and for the ocean carrier Sealand Services, Inc.
Mr. Fay's practice includes the prosecution and defense of cargo damage claims, vessel collisions, charter party disputes, maritime salvage and general average claims, maritime lien claims, commercial disputes between vessel owners and suppliers, pollution incidents, the defense of personal injury claims, insurance coverage disputes, and the prosecution and defense of business interruption and economic losses resulting from damage to terminals, docks, oil and gas production wells, and pipelines. He also has represented clients in non-maritime contract disputes, casualty claims, and violations of Louisiana's Public Bid Laws.
Mr. Fay represents clients before a variety of legal tribunals, including the state and federal trial and appellate courts of Louisiana, federal trial courts in Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court, arbitrations in New York and London, and formal investigative hearings before the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board.
In 2007, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed Mr. Fay to a five-year term on the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. The regional Board governs port operations in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parishes.
Professional Activities and Honors
American Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association
-- Committee on Bar Admissions
-- Assistant Bar Examiner, Constitutional Law, 1991-Present
Fifth Circuit Bar Association
Maritime Law Association
-- Proctor in Admiralty
New Orleans Board of Trade
-- Second Vice-President
-- Chairman, Supervisory Committee
Port of New Orleans
-- Board of Commissioners, 2007-2012
-- Secretary-Treasurer, 2009
Education
J.D., cum laude, Tulane University, 1983
B.S., Economics, B.A., History, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1979
Mr. Fay's practice includes the prosecution and defense of cargo damage claims, vessel collisions, charter party disputes, maritime salvage and general average claims, maritime lien claims, commercial disputes between vessel owners and suppliers, pollution incidents, the defense of personal injury claims, insurance coverage disputes, and the prosecution and defense of business interruption and economic losses resulting from damage to terminals, docks, oil and gas production wells, and pipelines. He also has represented clients in non-maritime contract disputes, casualty claims, and violations of Louisiana's Public Bid Laws.
Mr. Fay represents clients before a variety of legal tribunals, including the state and federal trial and appellate courts of Louisiana, federal trial courts in Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, and Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court, arbitrations in New York and London, and formal investigative hearings before the United States Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board.
In 2007, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco appointed Mr. Fay to a five-year term on the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. The regional Board governs port operations in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parishes.
Professional Activities and Honors
American Bar Association
Louisiana State Bar Association
-- Committee on Bar Admissions
-- Assistant Bar Examiner, Constitutional Law, 1991-Present
Fifth Circuit Bar Association
Maritime Law Association
-- Proctor in Admiralty
New Orleans Board of Trade
-- Second Vice-President
-- Chairman, Supervisory Committee
Port of New Orleans
-- Board of Commissioners, 2007-2012
-- Secretary-Treasurer, 2009
Education
J.D., cum laude, Tulane University, 1983
B.S., Economics, B.A., History, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1979
