Stephen Hanemann is a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. He practices in the admiralty and maritime practice group. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of admiralty issues, including Jones Act, personal injury, oil and gas exploration, pipeline spills, drilling accidents, well blowouts, cargo loss and damage, ship and barge collisions, ship allisions, vessel groundings, lift boat and jack-up rig accidents, dock damage, vessel liens, sunken barges, vessel mortgage filings, product liability, redhibition, commercial lease agreements, and other commercial litigation issues. Stephen has also been instrumental in forming and developing local construction companies and assisting them with various issues relating to contract procurement and negotiation, as well as demolition and remediation services.

In addition to his extensive experience in admiralty and construction litigation, he has developed the transactional aspects of his practice by providing a variety of legal and logistical services to commercial lenders, including local and national banks, and vessel owners and operators. Stephen's representative experience encompasses the preparation of marine asset financing and re-financing documents, such as preferred ship and vessel mortgages, security agreements, commercial loan agreements, UCC-1 financing statements, purchase and sale agreements, commercial and personal guarantees, promissory notes, and loan closing packages.

Stephen's knowledge of United States Coast Guard procedures and vessel documentation enable him to assist his clients beyond the traditional lending process by handling the filing and perfection of items with the National Vessel Documentation Center. He has supervised and worked with transactions involving commercial vessels, such as freight and tank barges, tow boats, work boats, and industrial and offshore vessels, as well as recreational vessels ranging from personal sailing crafts to mega-yachts in international shipping registry. Notwithstanding his experience with assets, Stephen has assisted lenders and borrowers alike in a variety of matters involving the sale and acquisition of immovable property, Section 1031 like-kind property exchanges, the negotiation and drafting of commercial leases, and the financing, sale, and purchase of real property ranging from land-based real estate to river-based fleeting operations.

Representative Experience

• Represented commercial vessel owner and operator in numerous fleet refinancing, documentation, and redocumentation transactions
• Represented large midstream stevedoring company with the finance, acquisition, and development of batture property and fleeting operations along the lower Mississippi River
• Represented vessel owner and operator in the sale of high capacity floating cranes to a foreign purchaser, and handled all aspects of the transaction from drafting the purchase and sale agreement to obtaining governmental agency approval of the sale
• Represented Cayman Island based vessel owner in the acquisition of a $63,000,000 luxury yacht
• Represented Houston, Texas based client with the cash sale acquisition of a $17,500,000 luxury yacht
• Represented local bank in tax exempt financing for purchase of commercial vessel
• Represented regional bank in closing transaction for multiple marine assets in a commercial vessel fleet
• Represented numerous commercial lenders in closing transaction pertaining to water-front property and marine asset acquisitions and financing
• Represented large commercial shipyard in litigation involving an allegedly injured welder, and obtained dismissal of all claims against the shipyard at both the trial court and appellate court levels
• Assisted local construction contractor with numerous issues involving successful satisfaction and dismissal of project liens
• Represented Gulf of Mexico installation operator in property damage litigation, successfully coordinating with U.S. Coast Guard and Marshall Service to seize and detain an offshore tug as security for the damages incurred by the platform
• Assisted drilling well operator and non-operating interest owners in drafting and negotiating Joint Operating Agreements, Participation Agreements, Exploration Agreements, and Gas Balancing Agreements
• Assisted non-operating interest owner and investor in land-based drilling prospect in the negotiation and drafting of buy sell agreements

Education

Stephen earned his B.A. in French from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999 and also studied French abroad at the Université Catholique De L'Ouest in Angers, France. He earned his J.D. in 2002 from the Loyola University New Orleans School of Law where he served as a member of the Moot Court program, Moot Court T.A., Treasurer and President of the Student Bar Association.

Admissions

• Admitted, Louisiana, 2002; United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana; United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; Admitted to practice Pro Hac Vice before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Mississippi, Northern District of West Virginia, and the Southern District of Missouri

Memberships

• Member, New Orleans, Louisiana State and American Bar Associations; Phi Delta Phi, Black Inn; Jefferson Chamber of Commerce; Judge John C. Boutall Inn of Court

Articles, Publications and Presentations

• "Recent Development of the Shipowners Limitation of Liability Act in Light of the DEEPWATER HORIZON Gulf Oil Spill", Offshore Marine Service Association, New Orleans, LA, January 27, 2011.
• "Dispute Resolution with the Masters: Lessons from 2 Super Lawyers", Mediation and Arbitration Panel for the Louisiana State Bar Association, New Orleans, LA, October 22, 2010.
  
• Assist in preparation of the Foundation for the Advancement of Maritime Education's presentation entitled, "A Significant Step in Rectifying the Qualified Mariner Shortage"-presented at FAME kickoff event in New Orleans and to the International Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers Association of New Orleans Convention; Point Clear, Alabama, 2008.
• Professional Responsibility CLE for the Louisiana City Attorneys Association; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2008.
• "Be Interview Ready and Summer Associate Savvy":An Informal Seminar presented in conjunction with the Loyola University School of Law On-Campus Interview Program, 2007.
• The Importance of Youth Leadership Programs and Mock-Government Initiatives, presented to Louisiana Boys State, 2002.
  

Community Service

• Member, Law Alumni Association Board of Directors, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law
• Past Project Group Leader, Proud to Call it Home Campaign of the Young Leadership Council
• Member, International House of Blues Foundation
• Board of Directors, Foundation for the Advancement of Maritime Education
  
• Boys Hope Girls Hope
• Member, Race Judicata Planning Committee
• Homeless Experience Legal Protection Program
• SOLACE