Recap of BARBRI’s CLE Program Focused on Maritime Practice Challe

On January 13, 2026, we teamed as much as current a 90‑minute CLE program by BARBRI centered on probably the most persistently difficult areas of maritime observe: drafting and negotiating industrial agreements. The session introduced collectively maritime attorneys from across the nation, giving us a possibility to speak by the developments, stress factors, and recurring points we’re seeing in constitution events, cargo contracts, and multimodal preparations.

This system opened by grounding the dialogue in what truly drives maritime contracting at present: particularly, a mixture of industrial expectations, regulatory frameworks, and operational realities that don’t typically line up neatly. Whether or not the subject is a constitution negotiation, a service settlement, or cargo documentation, one theme ran all through: the contract has to work in the true world, not simply on paper.

Some necessary takeaways for the dialog embody:

• Constitution Events – Main constitution types can take many shapes, every with key provisions that are likely to outline the deal. Laytime and demurrage, off‑rent, bunker duties, buying and selling limits, and upkeep necessities all sit on the intersection of authorized idea and day‑to‑day vessel operations. Payments of lading points, particularly, proceed to create downstream challenges relying on the constitution construction.
• Cargo Contracts – A number of totally different contracts impact the cargo facet of the trade, the place payments of lading, service agreements, and service/OTI relationships set the tone. Fee constructions, demurrage and detention, liens, invoicing necessities, and the ripple results of port disruptions and customs delays are all areas the place a couple of rigorously drafted strains could make a giant distinction and maintain items shifting easily.
• Allocating Legal responsibility and Managing Indemnity – From COGSA and the Hague‑Visby Guidelines to normal common, a number of legal responsibility regimes affect how events strategy threat. Indemnity provisions akin to knock‑for‑knock constructions, Himalaya clauses, exclusions, and carve‑outs stay a few of the most closely negotiated phrases we see. The important thing takeaway: readability and enforceability matter greater than ever.
• Power Majeure – Operational interruptions, akin to port closures, piracy, ice situations, sanctions, and different authorities actions, are starting to really feel more and more frequent in maritime commerce. Drafting a workable drive majeure clause means addressing discover, value allocation, and when (and the way) efficiency resumes.
• Market Realities and Negotiation Technique – Contracts don’t exist in isolation. Freight charges, container volumes, and counterparty monetary well being affect each negotiation. Due‑diligence steps, from reputational checks to litigation historical past critiques, assist events construct agreements aligned with at present’s market expectations somewhat than final yr’s assumptions.
• Dispute Decision and Danger Mitigation – The session explored arbitration’s benefits and downsides and learn how to draft efficient dispute‑decision clauses. Further steering lined efficiency requirements, termination rights, discover provisions, documentation practices, and different operational threat‑mitigation instruments necessary to contract administration.
• Regulatory Compliance – Compliance continues to be a shifting goal. Firms are confronted with a myriad of compliance obligations throughout the maritime sector, together with FMC rules, OFAC screening, export controls, environmental rules, cybersecurity issues, and shifting Coast Guard necessities, all of that are key points for corporations engaged in home and worldwide operations.

Legal professionals advising maritime purchasers should stability industrial realities with authorized threat, guaranteeing a transparent understanding of the events, the deal construction, and the enforceability of the ultimate written settlement. As market situations, regulatory expectations, and operational dangers proceed to shift, clear and disciplined contract drafting stays important.