Overview
Risk Management, Litigation and Disputes
Gunster’s Transportation team represents clients at every stage of the transportation, supply and distribution process. We represent a wide variety of business and organizational clients involved in the transportation of cargo, logistics and the supply chain, including railroads and rail service companies, motor carriers, ocean carriers, transportation intermediaries, ocean terminals and ports, warehouses, intermodal equipment providers, and direct and indirect air carriers, among others.
Our Transportation lawyers routinely advise clients on managing and shifting risk in the transportation sector. Our lawyers provide corporate and securities advice, support due diligence in acquisitions, assist in strategies and contracts for facility and resource development, and support procurement activities.
In addition, our Transportation team is dedicated to helping clients avoid or mitigate problems and issues before they can result in cumbersome or expensive delays. We provide training and risk mitigation advice related to day-to-day operations, as well as carriage of goods, delays, demurrage, logistics, cargo damage and loss claims, infrastructure development, employment and labor issues, and tariffs. Our team has significant depth and breadth of knowledge relating to the transportation issues that our clients face.
Our lawyers are well versed in the complexities of transportation-related litigation and disputes. We have represented transportation clients in many significant litigation matters, including anti-trust disputes, real property and right-of-way disputes, fraud claims, vessel construction disputes, employment disputes, cargo claims, construction claims, Shipping Act of 1984 claims, claims before the Federal Maritime Commission, and breaches of operational and other agreements. Our litigators appear on behalf of transportation clients in federal, state, administrative and arbitration forums.
In the cargo damage and loss realm, Gunster has a long history of representing clients in claims asserted against rail and motor carriers under the Carmack Amendment. We also advise on claims under The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), as well as other international laws applicable to the multimodal movement of freight. In addition, our Transportation team advises rail carriers regarding myriad disputes, including the prosecution and defense of claims involving rail rates, rail circulars, statutory obligations, refund agreements, safety and technology devices, and fuel surcharges. We are experienced in defending clients in these matters in various trial and appellate courts and complex arbitration actions.
Nearly all businesses have operations that relate to the movement of cargo or are reliant on the smooth operation of supply chains. Whether our clients face challenges at ports, yards or their home offices, our objective is to provide practical legal solutions that focus on solving the problem and safeguarding ROI.
