Liskow is proud to announce the firm’s expansion into New England and the growth of our maritime practice with the addition of three attorneys: Samuel P. Blatchley, Patrick J. O’Connor, and Michael J. Pluhowski. The addition brings an established fisheries litigation and maritime regulatory practice to Liskow and adds a new office in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s highest-grossing commercial fishing port for 23 consecutive years, according to NOAA Fisheries.
“Liskow has long had a strong presence in the maritime industry, and our expansion into New England and the addition of fisheries capabilities are natural extensions of that strength,” said Ray Waid, leader of the firm’s Maritime Industry Group. “Sam, Patrick, and Michael add real depth to our team and make us better able to serve maritime clients across the country.”
The New Bedford office gives Liskow a base in New England and, together with the firm’s New York office, extends its maritime and casualty response coverage along the Northeast coast. The addition also strengthens the firm’s practice in the New York area, where two of the three new attorneys are licensed. O’Connor and Pluhowski both have Merchant Mariner Credentials, experience that reinforces the firm’s practical approach to maritime matters.
“I’ve known members of Liskow’s maritime team for more than 20 years and have watched the group grow,” said Blatchley. “These are lawyers I’ve long respected. The fishermen, vessel owners, insurers, and maritime businesses we represent need a team that can respond quickly wherever they operate. Liskow’s deeper bench gives us what we need to serve them well, whether the work is in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, or anywhere else in the world.”
Maritime casualty response is central to Liskow’s Maritime Practice Group, one of the largest in the country. The group’s casualty lawyers are on call 24 hours a day, work alongside the emergency response teams of national and international clients, and have handled claims arising from major incidents, including the DEEPWATER HORIZON, the GOLDEN RAY capsizing, and the SEACOR POWER sinking. Most recently, the firm served as lead maritime counsel for the State of Maryland in its claim arising from the M/V DALI’s allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The claim resolved in the largest single maritime property damage settlement in U.S. history. The group also handles maritime transactions ranging from operational contracts to vessel and fleet acquisitions. Several of its attorneys worked in the maritime industry before becoming lawyers, and that experience shapes how they respond when an incident occurs.
“Liskow has always grown by following our clients’ needs, and this expansion is another example of that,” said Managing Shareholder Mark Latham. “We are in a period of strategic growth, and the maritime industry is a key focus of that effort.”
Michael Golemi, leader of the Maritime Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Strategic Planning Committee, echoed that point. “We have never grown simply for the sake of getting bigger,” said Golemi. “Our clients and our lawyers value the advantages of a midsize firm, and our goal is to preserve those strengths while we continue to add the depth, breadth, and capabilities clients need.”
About the Team
Samuel P. Blatchley focuses his practice on admiralty and maritime law, insurance, fisheries, and environmental law. He handles maritime collisions and casualties, personal injury and death claims, charter party and marine services disputes, vessel arrests and attachments, and insurance coverage disputes, and he advises on vessel financing, purchases, charters, documentation, and registration. His clients include vessel owners and operators, charterers, stevedores, terminal operators, construction and dredging firms, bunker suppliers, freight forwarders, inland carriers, lenders, marina operators, marine surveyors, and marine trades providers. He also serves as outside general counsel to a marine insurer covering Hull & Machinery and Protection & Indemnity risks. His fisheries practice spans all commercial fisheries. He represents fishermen, fishing associations, and vessel owners in fisheries disputes and in claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. That work includes representing the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, in which the D.C. Circuit held in 2023 that the agency may not rely on worst-case assumptions when assessing a fishery’s effects on an endangered species. He is a Proctor in Admiralty of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, where he has chaired the Practice and Procedure Committee and served on the Board of Directors, and he served on the subcommittee that drafted the District of Rhode Island’s Local Admiralty Rules. He received his J.D. and Maritime Law Certificate from Tulane University Law School. Sam is licensed in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York.
Patrick J. O’Connor focuses on maritime and admiralty law, insurance, contracts, and litigation. He also advises clients on the evolving regulatory framework governing autonomous and remotely operated vessels. He counsels vessel owners, operators, builders, and other maritime stakeholders on U.S. Coast Guard requirements and developing international standards, including the IMO’s Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) framework; state vessel registration and certification; federal vessel documentation and flagging; manning requirements; and the application of the COLREGS to autonomous and remotely operated vessels. A graduate of the State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY Maritime), he worked on deck and in the wheelhouse aboard tugboats on the Intracoastal Waterway, the Upper and Lower Mississippi River, and the Ohio River, and he holds a U.S. Coast Guard third mate’s license. He received his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law, where he was president of the student Maritime Law Association and a two-year member of the Admiralty Moot Court team. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States and a longstanding member of the New York and New England maritime bar. Patrick is licensed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Michael J. Pluhowski combines a maritime litigation practice with an active seagoing and military career. A U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate, he sailed with Kirby Inland Marine and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under his third mate’s license before attending law school. He earned his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law. He teaches shiphandling and navigation at the U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island, and serves as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Michael is licensed in Massachusetts and Maine.