James Rodgers

Partner

James.Rodgers@lewisbrisbois.com

Jim Rodgers is a Partner in The New York City and Newark offices. He is the Vice-Chair of the Marine & Energy Practice Group and a member of the General Liability Practice Group, specializing in Construction related matters. His Admiralty & Maritime practice includes defense of personal injury and wrongful death actions brought under the Jones Act and the LHWCA, vessel collisions and allisions, cargo claims including claims under COGSA, claims against marine terminals and shipyards, claims involving damages to vessels while loading and unloading, petitions brought under the Limitation of Liability Act, and claims involving yachts and recreational boating. In his maritime practice, James has handled cases in state and federal court, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, and California. Jim previously served six years as Associate General Counsel at the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

Jim’s Construction practice includes defense of personal injury and death claims under the New York Labor Law (“scaffold law”), large property losses resulting from steampipe explosions, fire, building collapses, scaffold collapses, crane and hoist collapses, water main breaks, gas explosions as well as the defense of governmental entities in catastrophic property damage claims resulting from the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Prior to entering the law, Jim served four years as a Surface Line Officer in the United States Navy onboard an anti-submarine warfare frigate as well as an amphibious assault ship, attaining the rank of Lieutenant and earning the Surface Warfare Qualification. His time at sea included deployments in the Atlantic, North Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean, Black Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific, as well as transits through the Panama Canal, Kiel Canal, and the Turkish Straits.

Jim has authored law articles for academic law journals at UCLA, UC Davis, and Suffolk Law School, as well as articles in shipping magazines covering maritime and international law. In the past, his pro bono work has included authoring legal briefs submitted to the Supreme Court of Ireland relating to Treaty Law and the Irish Constitution, preparing and submitting writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States, arguing appellate issues involving interpretation of college charities in the State of New York, and obtaining political asylum for ship stowaways. In addition to his J.D., Jim holds a Master of Law (LL.M) in International Business & Trade Law from Fordham University School of Law.

Primary Area(s) of Practice

  • Marine & Energy
  • General Liability
  • Construction
  • New York Labor Law

Admissions

New York

New Jersey

Supreme Court of the United States

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Associations

  • Member, New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA)
  • Chairman, NYCLA Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee, 2007-2014
  • Member, Construction Law Committee
  • Proctor Member, Maritime Law Association of the United States

Education

Fordham University School of Law, New York, New York

LL.M. International Business and Trade Law

New York Law School, New York, New York

Juris Doctor, Journal of International and Comparative Law

The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina

Bachelor of Science, Business Administration

Legal Experience

American Bureau of Shipping & Affiliated Companies, Associate Counsel, 1993-1999

Publications

  • Suffolk Transnational Law Review, The Adoption of the Good Friday Agreement in the Republic of Ireland: Political Expediency v. The Irish Constitution, Winter 1999
  • UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction of U.S. Securities Laws: Application to Lloyd’s of London Membership Agreements, Fall 1998 issue
  • UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, The Continental Shelf of Ireland: The Law and Politics of Delimitation, Spring/Summer 1998 issue
  • Fairplay International Shipping Weekly (Law Review), Shipowners’ Duty Under The LHWCA, April 27, 1995
  • Fairplay International Shipping Weekly (Law Review), Immunity Under U.S. Coast Guard Reports, February 24, 1994
  • Fairplay International Shipping Weekly (Law Review), Hidden Liabilities, August 27, 1992

Representative Cases

  • Morales v. Hapag-Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft (America), et. al., 134 A.D. 3d 783 (2015), 21 N.Y.S. 3d 316, 2015 NY Slip Op 09079. This matter involved a longshoreman seriously injured when a container was lowered onto him during the loading of a container vessel in New York Harbor. The plaintiff’s claim against our client, the ship terminal, was dismissed by the appellate court. The Court agreed with our position that the ship terminal was the alter-ego of plaintiff’s employer (an affiliated company), and thus was immune from suit pursuant to the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA). The LHWCA, among other things, bars suit against a longshoreman’s employer who has paid out LHWCA benefits. The appellate court also dismissed the shipowner’s cross-claim as against the ship terminal.
  • Kopetic v. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County, Index # 305797/2012, Decision and Order, dated April 12, 2018 (Hon. Norma Ruiz) Our client, a governmental entity who owns a container terminal in New York Harbor, was sued by an injured longshoreman who worked for the company operating the container terminal. The longshoreman had been in the process of lifting and moving a container on the pier when the top loader he was driving flipped over onto its side, causing injuries to plaintiff. The terminal operator has a long term lease with our client for the entire terminal. Under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), plaintiff was precluded from bringing a claim against the terminal operator, as the operator was his employer who had paid out benefits under the LHWCA. Instead, plaintiff brought his claim for negligence against our client as owner of the terminal. We argued that under the lease between the owner of the terminal and the terminal operator, the owner was a “landlord out of possession” and could not be held liable under New York law. The Court agreed and dismissed the Complaint in its entirety. 

Military Experience

  • U.S. Navy
  • USS CONNOLE (FF-1056), Lieutenant 1982-1984; Anti-submarine Warfare Officer.
  • USS INCHON (LPH-12), Lieutenant, JG 1980-1982; Deck Officer.