The Admiralty Solicitors Group

LONDON is synonymous with maritime law, not least because of its long pedigree as an international centre for shipowning, operating, broking, insurance and finance. There are, as a result, more admiralty lawyers in London than in any other city in the world. In 1972, a handful of the most influential of the solicitor firms specialising in this area formed the City of London Admiralty Solicitors Group. Today, comprising 24 members, it promotes and maintains high standards in the practice of admiralty law in London.

The ASG began life as an occasional meeting of a group of London-based admiralty lawyers to discuss ways in which they could better serve their clients and help attract new business to the London market. Recognising that anything that improves the service to the client is good for London jurisdiction and for the lawyers operating there, the group invited all the main players to join and became fully representative of the sector. In the 1980s, which saw rapid growth for many London maritime law firms and the arrival of a number of new players, group membership grew towards twenty-or-so members.

In the 1990s, however, the complexion of the group altered with the introduction, as country members, of a number of firms based outside London. "The ASG promotes London, but only as part of the UK's overall maritime law expertise," says Richard Sayer, chairman of the ASG since 1992 and partner at Ince & Co. "There are no absolute criteria for membership, but new firms have to show that they are going to add something of value to the group. All firms are welcome, whether large or small, if they have a significant admiralty practice."

Aims and objectives

"Unsatisfactory client service by one firm can lead to many potential clients thinking less of the London system as a whole," according to Sayer. To this end the ASG aims to maintain the reputation of London and the UK as a centre of excellence in admiralty law by handling cases quickly, commercially and economically, and to resolve rather than prolong disputes.

One of the ways in which the group seeks to improve the service offered to clients is through publication around the world of the ASG booklet. In existence for the last fifteen years, the booklet contains recommended standard guarantee wordings for collision and salvage cases. "It used to be that the first two-to-three days of a case were spent with the two opposing lawyers arguing over the wording of a guarantee," says Sayer. "The booklet has established a common ground, reducing this time to about half an hour, saving the client time, expense and risk."

A document not given wide circulation but kept on file in each of the member firms is the ASG code of conduct, developed three years ago, which sets the standards of professional behaviour to be observed by ASG members. "Fortunately, we have very little need to refer to it," explains Sayer. "Everyone knows everyone else in this area of practice, and anyone behaving badly gets the message pretty quickly."

Paving the way for ADR

It has been a slow process, but there is increasing awareness, and use of, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods in maritime matters today. At the most recent of their thrice-yearly meetings, the ASG firms agreed to create and promote a central list of mediators from its membership. There are already at least twelve individuals who are accredited mediators and who will form a mediation panel for use by ASG members and their clients. "In these early days of mediation, shipping clients are likely to feel more comfortable with a lawyer mediator who has a thorough knowledge of the workings of their industry," believes Sayer. The ASG offers a similar arbitration panel for the smaller collision and salvage cases, where disputes can be determined quickly and economically, often on a documents-only basis.

Joining forces

The ASG joins with other sectors of the maritime industry at shipping exhibitions to promote London and the UK. One such event is Maritime London at the Baltic Exchange, an annual exhibition which gathers different sectors of the maritime industry together to promote Maritime London both nationally and internationally. Sayer says, "London leads the way in maritime law. It is one of Britain's greatest unsung exports - its legal system generally and its maritime legal expertise in particular." Sayer also represents the ASG as one of the vice-chairmen of the recent Maritime London initiative which seeks to provide a voice for the promotion of all sectors of the UK's maritime services industry.

ASG firms have also manned the ASG stand at each Posidonia exhibition in Greece since 1996, as part of the London promotion effort. This co-operative approach can be advantageous for the smaller firms within the group which would not necessarily attend such an event but can have a presence through the ASG.

Giving a voice

Sayer explains that UK maritime law adapts quickly to industry developments while retaining the continuity of an established system. It is this evolutionary aspect that makes London the jurisdiction of choice for all types of maritime disputes. To maintain that pre-eminence requires input from maritime lawyers. It is here that the ASG provides a voice not only for its admiralty members but often for all maritime law practitioners.

"The English legal system under Lord Woolf's reforms has been shaken up," adds Sayer. "The ASG has had a voice in the manner in which those reforms impact on admiralty law procedure because of the long-standing relationship it has with successive judges of the admiralty court, to whose users committee we provide three representatives. The group also provides a representative to the working party which monitors the progress of the Lloyd's Form salvage contract. The four-man drafting committee for Lloyd's Form 2000 included lawyers from three ASG firms, one acting for the ISU, one acting for Lloyd's, and the third representing the ASG. Giving members a voice on legislative and procedural changes, it is represented on British Maritime Law Association standing subcommittees as well as governmental ad hoc committees such as the Lord Chancellor's committee currently considering ratification by the UK of the 1999 Arrest Convention.

Challenges

Maintaining top-quality requires top recruits from two sources - seafarers and trainee lawyers. And, in both areas, maritime firms face difficulties. First, the decline of the UK fleet over many years has severely depleted the pool of seafarers upon whom the specialist firms rely both as inhouse experts and as outsourced consultants and expert witnesses. The ASG supports the government's initiative through the tonnage tax legislation.

The second difficulty lies in the fact that competition for young, high-calibre lawyers is now intense, with the emergence in London of numerous US law firms and the willingness of the magic circle of London corporate law firms to pay top dollar to recruit the best trainees. The P&I clubs, the main providers of work to admiralty firms, have kept the lid on legal fees for many years and, according to Sayer, most shipping law firms have barely increased their fee levels for the last six or seven years. "The ASG firms, faced with the difficulty of paying much higher salaries out of tighter profit margins, want the clubs to bear in mind that it is in their long-term interests for law firms to be in a position to recruit quality staff," he says.

"The ASG is a good example of what works well in London. The member firms compete hard with each other but also work well together. If each of us maintains our high quality, and if through the likes of the ASG we can help each other do that, we all - clients and lawyers - benefit."

Getting in touch

The ASG is about to launch its new website which will include the latest revisions to the ASG standard documentation, recruitment information, worldwide contact details and links to other related websites such as Maritime London. In the meantime, contact Richard Sayer or Archie Bishop for more details.

Richard Sayer, Partner, Ince & Co,
Knollys House, 11 Byward Street, London EC3R 5EN
Tel. +44 (0)20 7623 2011 Fax. +44 (0)20 7623 3225

Archie Bishop, Holman Fenwick & Willan, Marlow House,
Lloyd's Avenue, London EC3N 3AL
Tel. +44 (0)20 7488 2300 Fax. +44 (0)20 7481 0316

Member firms of the Admiralty Solicitors Group

  • Andrew M Jackson, Hull
  • Bentleys, Stokes & Lowless, London
  • Berryman's Lace Mawer, London
  • Clifford Chance, London
  • Clyde & Co, London and Guildford
  • Constant & Constant, London
  • DLA, London
  • Elborne Mitchell, London
  • Eversheds, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
  • Hill Dickinson, Liverpool
  • Hill Taylor Dickinson, London
  • Holman, Fenwick & Willan, London
  • Holmes Hardingham, London
  • Ince & Co, London
  • Lawrence Graham & Co, London
  • Middleton Potts & Co - London
    Norton Rose, London
  • Rayfield Mills, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
  • Richards Butler, London
  • Shaw & Croft, London
  • Sinclair, Roche & Temperley, London
  • Stephenson Harwood, London
  • Thomas Cooper Stibbard, London
  • Waltons & Morse, London