Thomas A. Russell
Chair, Executive Committee
General Counsel (Ret.), Port of Los Angeles
Email:
trussell@maaus.com
Telephone:
1-949-244-6230
Professional/Industry Background:
2002-2012, General Counsel, Port of Los Angeles,
Co-General Counsel, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority and
General Counsel, Intermodal Container Transfer Facility
1988-2002, Williams Woolley Cogswell Nakazawa
& Russell and successor firms, Long Beach, CA
1982-1988, Graham & James, Long Beach, CA
1981, Law Clerk, California Court of Appeals, Los Angeles, CA
Board Certified in Admiralty and Maritime Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
Proctor in Admiralty, Maritime Law Association of the United States
Experience:
Responsible for all legal matters for the governing authority of the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest seaport in the United States. Advisor to the Board of Harbor Commissioners and executive staff.
Responsible for all legal matters for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, a 20-mile joint powers rail corridor between ports of San Pedro Bay and downtown Los Angeles. Advisor to the Governing Board and executive staff.
Responsible for all legal matters for the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, a joint powers facility for the transfer of ocean shipping containers between trucks and rail cars. Advisor to the Governing Board and executive staff.
Broad maritime experience includes recreational boating and marina matters, maritime contracts, vessel purchase and sale transactions, yacht and ship brokerage disputes, vessel warranty claims, ship collisions, maritime torts, maritime liens and ship mortgages, cargo loss and damage, charter disputes, ocean freight and liquidated damages, passenger and seaman injury claims, oil spills and pollution matters.
ADR Experience:
Arbitrations and mediations under the rules of the
American Arbitration Association
California Yacht Brokers Association
Maritime Arbitration Association of the United States
ADR Training:
American Bar Association, Comprehensive Training
in Commercial Arbitration
Harvard Law School, Mediation Workshop
Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation
Bar Admissions:
State Bar of California
United States District Courts for the Central, Eastern,
Northern and Southern Districts of California
Ninth and Eleventh U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
United States Supreme Court
Education:
University of Southern California Law School, J.D.
University of California at Berkeley, B.S.
Professional/Industry Associations:
American Bar Association (past Chair, Subcommittee on Maritime Financing)
American Vessel Documentation Association (Honorary Member)
California Yacht Brokers Association (Merle Park Awards 1998, 2002)
International Business Association of Southern California (past President)
Maritime Law Association of the United States (Proctor Member, past Chair, Recreational Boating Committee)
Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer Review Rated
Who’s Who in America
Who’s Who in American Law
Publications & Presentations:
Author, “ADR and the Maritime Industry,” Pacific Admiralty Seminar (2002)
Author, “Nonjudicial Foreclosure Under the Ship Mortgage Act,” The Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce (1987)
Author, “The Foreclosure of Preferred Ship Mortgages,” 48 Cons. Fin. L. Q. Rpt. 136 (1994)
Author, “The Three Functions of a Bill of Lading,” Current (1992)
Author, “The Adoption of the Filed Rate Doctrine Under the Shipping Act of 1984,” Current, (1994)
Chair, USC Symposium, “Energy and the Oceans: A Legal Perspective,” 1 L. & Env’t 3-156 (1985)
Coauthor, “Recent Developments in Recreational Boating
Law,” 9 USF Maritime Law Journal (1997)
Contributing author, Benedict on Admiralty, Vol. 2, Ch. II-
V, Vol. 8, Ch. XIII (Matthew Bender, 1995-)
Contributing author, Moore’s Federal Practice, Admiralty
Volume (Matthew Bender, 1997-)
Contributing author, Recreational Boating Law (Matthew
Bender, 1992)
Founder and chair, "Yacht Sales & The Law" (1998-present), an annual seminar of California Yacht Brokers Association
Founding editor, "Boating Briefs," a newsletter of The
Maritime Law Association of the United States
Instructor, Maritime Law, Global Logistics Specialist
Certification Program, California State University, Long
Beach (1998)