Maritime lawyer Brian Starer is set to join an elite group of US Merchant Marine Academy alumni, after being nominated to enter its hall of distinguished graduates.
It is a rare honour. Only 31 of 22,500 graduates of the New York-based academy, better known as Kings Point, have been accorded the accolade.
Starer is among the world’s most experienced casualty lawyers, advising on more than 125 major marine disasters over a 45-year career.
And it is a career that appears set to continue. On turning 70 two years ago, the Squire Patton Boggs senior partner told TradeWinds he felt at the top of his game and had no intention of retiring.
Starer’s cases include tanker spills, such as the Amoco Cadiz, Exxon Valdez, Braer, Prestige, Tasman Spirit, Argo Merchant and American Trader. There have been rig cases in the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc I. There was also the breakup of the woodchip carrier New Carissa near Coos Bay, Oregan, and a marathon legal battle that followed the collision between the tanker New World and bulker Ya Mawlaya.
But his best-known battles have been over attempts to hold classification societies liable to third parties for any contributory responsibility they may have had for casualties.
Starer is set to be inducted to Kings Point hall of distinguished graduates in November. He joins an illustrious bunch that includes Nobel laureate Douglass North, pioneer of automation John Diebold, distinguished naval architect Charles Cushing and astronaut Elliot See.
