HELLO and welcome to the fourteenth edition of The Maritime Advocate

HELLO and welcome to the fourteenth edition of The Maritime Advocate. As you already know, we work hard to open a window on the world of maritime law for you. In this issue for the first time we bring you features from Iceland and Korea as well as a special focus on maritime law in South America. Gregory Timagenis, who appears on the front cover, has written an article on recent developments in Greek shipping.

Xavier Bureau writes from France that shipping is a can-do business. I like that phrase. We all want to do business with people who have this attitude. Rex Harrington, well-known shipping banker, is interviewed In Camera. His many years’ experience as the financial dealmaker of Greek shipping could be summarised by his can-do approach to business, as well as the ability to stick to clients long-term, through good times and bad. Inevitably, when employing maritime lawyers, Rex is not simply looking for commercial ability, but someone who will help clients to find a way round obstacles and make things happen. In other words, one who has a can-do approach to business.

Jay Pare writes from New York on how baseball shares a certain quirky je-ne-sais-quoi with the maritime world. I leave it with you to read and judge for yourselves. I don’t know about the warm beer served at US baseball games, but I do know that hot dogs in New York are one of my favourite things. Mike Chalos interviewed At the Bar in Manhattan would agree, but there was not a dog in sight when we met at the hip-hip Royalton bar off Broadway.

Guarding long term business relationships is a key component of ADR. In The Keys to Conflict Resolution, reviewed in On Appeal in this issue, the personality of a mediator is described as one who has,“the patience of Job, the sincerity and bulldog characteristic of the English, the wit of the Irish, the physical endurance of a marathon runner, the broken-field dodging abilities of a halfback, the guile of a Machiavelli, the confidence-retaining characteristics of mute, the hide of a rhinoceros, and the wisdom of Solomon.”

Those who think that mediation is a soft option to litigation have got it wrong. A win-win approach to mediation can take a lot more moral courage from all parties concerned than the win-lose approach of a day in court. Mediation demands from each party the ability to see things from the other side’s point of view as well as understanding how your opponent may see you. It has much to teach us about the skill of negotiation and of what Manfred Arnold describes in this issue as ‘trading processes, sequences of give and take.’

‘Mediation and conciliation have become the buzzwords of the ADR movement,’ says Manfred. The shipping team at London law firm Lawrence Graham recently reported settling a $500,000 dispute in a one-day mediation. They predict the growth of more short mediations and fewer long court cases in the future - if lawyers and clients alike continue to believe in the benefits of ADR.
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Georgina Noakes