Marine insurance is a significant part of his practice. Sam serves as outside general counsel to a marine insurer covering Hull & Machinery and Protection & Indemnity risks, and he handles coverage disputes for insurers and insureds, including questions of uberrimae fidei and promissory warranties.

Commercial fisheries are a particular focus, and Sam works across all of them. He serves as general counsel for numerous fishing advocacy groups and represents fishermen, fishing associations, and vessel owners in fisheries disputes and in challenges to federal and state regulation under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. That work includes Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, in which the D.C. Circuit held that the agency may not rely on worst-case scenarios or pessimistic assumptions when assessing a fishery’s effects on an endangered species. He also defends shipping companies against Endangered Species Act claims.

Sam also advises fishing companies and vessel owners on crew employment, where his transactional and litigation practices meet. He drafts and revises crew share agreements, master employment agreements, and the medical disclosure and end-of-trip settlement documentation that supports them. He also defends the claims those documents later govern, including Jones Act, unseaworthiness, maintenance and cure, and lay-share wage claims. Because he litigates these cases, he drafts crew agreements with an eye to how they are tested in court, including challenges to share terms, to the arbitration of seamen’s claims that fall outside the Federal Arbitration Act, and to the record an owner needs to support a concealment defense to maintenance and cure.

Outside the courtroom, Sam advises autonomous vessel companies and handles vessel financing, purchases, charters, documentation, and registration for commercial vessels and private yachts, as well as marine-related commercial and corporate transactions.

Sam is active in the Maritime Law Association of the United States, where he has served on the Board of Directors and chaired the Practice and Procedure Committee. He was also a member of the ad hoc subcommittee that drafted the Local Admiralty Rules for the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Before joining Liskow, he was a partner at Eckland & Blando LLP, where he led the firm’s Boston and New Bedford offices. He previously chaired the admiralty and maritime group at another New England law firm and practiced at an admiralty boutique.Marine insurance is a significant part of his practice. Sam serves as outside general counsel to a marine insurer covering Hull & Machinery and Protection & Indemnity risks, and he handles coverage disputes for insurers and insureds, including questions of uberrimae fidei and promissory warranties.