Students in the Maritime Law LL.M. Program at the University of Miami School of Law are taught by a renowned group of professors in one of the most international, dynamic cities in the U.S. positioned at the gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. The Maritime Law LL.M. Program and its distinguished faculty would be delighted to welcome students and help them open doors into the world of maritime law.
Faculty Chair
Bernard H. Oxman is a world expert on the law of the sea and is Chair of the Maritime Law LL.M. Program. He has served as a judge ad hoc of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany and was a member of an arbitral tribunal in a dispute between Malaysia and Singapore. He has recently been named judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice in a maritime delimitation case between Romania and Ukraine. He is the only American lawyer ever appointed to serve as judge ad hoc before both of these international tribunals. He is immediate past Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of International Law(AJIL) and was elected to the American Law Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Institut de Droit International. He has written extensively on the law of the sea and other international law topics and was recently honored with the Hudson Medal from the American Society for International Law.
Faculty Listing
Raúl J. Chacón Jr. is a partner with the Miami office of Manning Gross + Massenburg LLP. Chacón’s practice focuses primarily on the defense of clients in a variety of marine matters, which involve personal injury, products liability, premises liability, and commercial litigation issues. He is regularly appointed to act as national and local counsel by insurance companies on marine products liability matters and has represented clients geographically from jurisdictions as far north as Canada, throughout the Continental U.S., Hawaii, Caribbean and South America. Chacón teaches Marine Insurance Law.
William G. Dwyer is the Staff Judge Advocate (General Counsel) for U.S. Southern Command in Doral Florida. He is the principal legal advisor for the Geographic Combatant Commander. Previously, he served as a Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Operations Law Attorney and the Chief of Legal Engagements for US Pacific Command. He teaches Protection of Living Marine Resources and Piracy, Terrorism and Drug Smuggling in the Maritime Domain.
Michael Karcher practices in the areas of admiralty and maritime law, specializing in recreational yachts, marine environmental law and insurance issues. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute and has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the Florida Department of Natural Resources. He is the current chairman of the Miami Marine Arbitration Council, the past President of the Marine Council, and continues as the Program and Seminar Chairman.
John Kimball, Partner at Blank Rome LLP, Admiralty and Maritime Law in New York, is listed in Best Lawyers in America, and teaches "Maritime Arbitration"
Robert E. Rosen, Professor of Law, teaches "The Legal Environment of the Cruise Industry"
Professor Daniel Suman is a Professor of Marine Affairs and Policy at Miami Law and at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami. Dr. Suman’s work focuses on the management of coastal areas, including mechanisms to increase institutional cooperation, capacity building, development of management plans, and reduction of conflicts between various resource users. He served as the Articles Editor of the Ecology Law Quarterly, was a Senior Fulbright Scholar and an Organization of American States Research Fellow. He leads a summer course for interested law and RSMAS students on Water Resources Law and Policy: China & Vietnam.
Program Leadership
The Program's Chair is Professor Bernard H. Oxman.
Director of the Maritime Law LL.M.: Sandra Friedrich
