Robert W. Burger

Practices

• Product Liability Litigation
• Admiralty & Maritime

Professional Experience

Rob is a partner in the firm's Admiralty and Maritime practice group. He is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed deck officer (since 1987) and focuses his practice on a wide range of maritime matters including both litigation and transactions. Rob handles litigation and arbitration matters involving defense of seamen personal injury cases alleging negligence under the Jones Act and unseaworthiness under general maritime law; carriage of goods and passengers alleging breach of contract, personal injury, detention, demurrage, despatch, etc.; cargo damage cases under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, the Harter Act, common carriage and private carriage; collision and allision cases with issues of improper lookout, errors in navigation, obstructions to navigation, tug operations, latent defects, machinery failure, etc.; marine insurance; and in rem actions under Supplemental Admiralty Rules based on vessel arrests and cargo seizures. Rob handles transactional matters involving charter parties and contracts of carriage, which include time-, voyage-, and sub-charters, contracts of affreightment, booking notes, float agreements, common carriage and private carriage; vessel documentation and finance; and towage contracts.

Rob is admitted to practice in Ohio and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit.

Education

• Tulane Law School, J.D., 1997, cum laude, Editor in Chief, Tulane Maritime Law Journal, Vol. 21, 1996 - 97
• Maine Maritime Academy, B.S., 1993, magna cum laude, Valedictorian