Kean Miller brings more than 200 years of combined experience to the energy, shipping and transportation industry in Louisiana.  We regularly represent clients in transactions and litigation involving marine insurance, tugs and towage, barges, drilling rigs, and oil & gas exploration. Our offices are located in major port cities throughout Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles.

Our Admiralty and Maritime team represents clients in a variety of disputes involving the Jones Act, personal injury claims, pipeline spills, drilling rig accidents, well blowouts, cargo loss and damage claims, ship and barge collisions, allisions, vessel groundings, lift boat and jack-up rig accidents, dock damage matters, vessel liens, and sunken barges.  We also represent clients in business transactions involving ships, vessel mortgages and financings of oil and gas exploration equipment.  

We provide proactive advice to energy industry clients regarding activities related to the “oil patch” including the exploration, development, production and transportation of oil and gas. We represent numerous clients in “bluewater” and “brownwater” matters throughout the Gulf Coast region. Many members of our Admiralty and Maritime team are involved in the leadership of the Maritime Law Association, the Greater New Orleans Barge Fleeting Association, the Marine Index Bureau, the Mariners Club Port of New Orleans, and the maritime and admiralty sections of the Louisiana State and American Bar Associations.

Kean Miller represents clients before all state and federal courts, governmental regulatory and administrative bodies, and in complex litigation. We serve as counsel to local, national and international oil and gas producers, vessel owners and operators, shipyards, drilling contractors, service companies, brokers, and underwriters.

Representative Experience:

• Representation of a global offshore engineering company in complex contract and personal injury litigation related to its operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Representation of a pipeline company against oil and gas company for the destruction of an offshore oil and gas platform as well as eight deaths and multiple personal injuries.

• Representation of various drilling companies and oil companies in lawsuits filed by offshore workers based on the Jones Act, General Maritime Law, Louisiana and Texas state law and the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA”).

• Representation of shipbuilding clients in class action lawsuits filed by former employees alleging asbestos exposure and Jones Act issues.

• Representation of various drilling companies and energy companies in EEOC claims filed by employees for alleged sexual harassment, racial and sexual discrimination.

• Representation of the second largest natural gas producer in the United States in case arising from blowout of one of its land wells in Louisiana, including successful prosecution of breach of contract and gross negligence claims against the wellhead contractor.

• Representation of Louisiana-based towboat operators and barge owners in defense of property damage claims and personal injury claims under the Jones Act and the General Maritime Law.

• Representation of an offshore drilling manufacturer in numerous lawsuits evolving from the collapse of a mobile offshore drilling unit during a hurricane.

• Representation of various energy companies in well blow-outs and all claims arising from significant catastrophes, which involve contract disputes, personal injury and death claims, environmental issues, and large property damage claims.

• Representation of offshore oil and gas platform owners and operators in defense of personal injury claims and in prosecution of property damage claims associated with well blowouts, vessel allisions, personnel basket transfers and other issues, including analysis of defense and indemnity issues under relevant contracts.

• Representation of a large French chemical, agri-chemcial and pharmaceutical producer seeking to recover damages from a commercial barge towing company involved in a collision with an acid loading dock on the Mississippi River.

• Representation of a major fertilizer producer in maritime tort litigation involving an accident aboard a barge on the Mississippi River and in a resulting personal injury claim.

• Representation of an energy company’s insurer in litigation and governmental proceedings resulting from destruction of a platform that was struck by a vessel, including issues surrounding a $25,000,000 oil spill clean-up.

• Representation of an oil company in a dispute with a co-venturer over a multi-million dollar contract involving a drilling project on the North Slope of Alaska.

• Representation of various oil companies and drilling companies in litigation involving disputes over contracts with service companies and oil companies, including Master Service Agreements.

• Representation of numerous marine and energy companies in U.S. Coast Guard and OSHA investigations and hearings.

• Representation of platform owner in personal injury actions arising from Outer  Continental Shelf operations.

• Defense of a barge owner in Jones Act case filed by a tankerman who was injured while loading a benzene barge.

• Representation of various oil companies in claims involving OPA 90 regulations and governmental investigations.

• Representation of a large marine surveyor in a Death on the High Seas Act claim involving a vessel that sank in the South China Sea.

• Representation of a major forest products company in a claim under the Carriage of Goods by the Sea Act.

• Representation of claims against petrochemical companies arising under general Maritime law and involving exposure to benzene being transported by various vessels.  
  

• Representation of a chemical manufacturer in a 905(b) action involving an accident on loading facilities belonging to our client and involving the unloading of a barge.  The case was tried to jury which returned a zero verdict in favor of our client.

• Representation of various oil companies in litigation and governmental proceedings resulting from pipelines being ruptured by vessels, including all issues surrounding multi-million dollar oil spill clean-ups.

• Representation of numerous marine and energy companies involving significant catastrophes resulting from a rupture of pipelines and explosions.

• Representation of a pipeline owner in litigation arising from an oil spill in state territorial waters.

• Drafting of Master Service Agreements and drilling contracts for various drilling companies and oil companies.

Aeas of Expertise:

• Admiralty
• Allisions, Collisions and Groundings
• Arbitration
• Arrest and Attachment
• Cargo Claims and Losses
• Charter Parties
• Class Actions
• Construction Agreements
• Contract Disputes
• Drilling Contracts
• Explosions and Fires
• Financing Agreements
• General Average
• Governmental Affairs
• Jones Act
• Letters of Credit
• LHWCA Claims
• Limitation of Liability
• Marine and Energy Insurance Coverage
• Marine Insurance
• Maritime Environmental Law
• Maritime Liens and Mortgages
• Maritime Toxic Torts
• Master Service Agreements
• Mediation
• Oil and Gas Well Blowouts
• Oil Pollution
• Oil Well Liens
• Oilfield Accidents
• Operating Agreements
• Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
• Personal Injury
• Post 9/11 Security Issues
• Preferred Ship Mortgages
• Property Damage
• Regulatory Issues
• Sale and Finance
• Salvage
• Stowaways
• Tugs and Towage
• Well Blowouts