Maritime Litigation Practice Group

The 2006 additions of John R. Geraghty, Patrick Geraghty and Thomas Foti has expanded our defense expertise into Maritime Law.

John R. Geraghty, a well-known maritime lawyer, is heading this Practice Group. John has over 35 years of experience representing ship owners, marine terminal operators, cruise lines and their insurers throughout the United States. His representation has resulted in over 40 published opinions. John represented the vessel owner in the noteworthy Klinghoffer v. Achille Lauro matter, where Palestinian terrorists hijacked a cruise ship in the Mediterranean taking over 100 people hostage and murdering passenger Leon Klinghoffer. In addition, John is the former author of 2 Benedict on Admiralty, Chapter VII, Death Actions.

John received a B.A. at the University of Notre Dame, where he achieved a varsity letter in football. John also received an LL.B. at Fordham Law School, and an LL.M. at New York University Law School. He is admitted in state courts of New York, New Jersey and Florida and is also admitted in the United States Supreme Court and in numerous United States Courts of Appeal and United States District Courts.

James Patrick Geraghty has been a shareholder at the Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin since March 2006. Patrick concentrates in defense litigation with an emphasis on cases involving Admiralty Law, Commercial Transportation and Maritime Insurance Patrick also has drafted and negotiated complex international commercial agreements and domestic contracts. He is admitted to practice law in the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York and District of New Jersey, as well as the state courts of New York and New Jersey. He is a Proctor of Admiralty in the Maritime Law Association and currently is an Adjunct Professor teaching Admiralty Law at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey.

Before joining the firm, Patrick, his father, John R. Geraghty, and Thomas D. Foti were partners at the Geraghty Law Firm in Hackensack, New Jersey. Prior to participating in the formation of the Geraghty law Firm, Patrick was a litigation associate at the Wall Street firms of Thacher, Proffitt & Wood and Kirlin, Campbell & Keating. Patrick has also been employed as a maritime lawyer for the international mutual insurance club Assuranceforeningen Skuld in Oslo, Norway. Patrick was a law clerk in the Appellate Division and Law Divisions of the Superior Court of New Jersey for the Honorable Martin J. Kole, J.A.D and the Honorable Benedict E. Lucchi, J.S.C. Patrick has a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University, School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College, with a major in English. He also has a Diploma in International Maritime Law from the University of Oslo in Norway, and he studied at Boston University’s intern program in London, England. During college, among other things, he worked as an Ordinary Seaman on ferries traversing the Long Island Sound.

Thomas D. Foti has been practicing law since 1986. Tom concentrates in the defense of motor carriers and the domestic and international intermodal trucking/ transportation industry. Since 1991, Tom has devoted his legal career to insurance defense litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Tom was a trial attorney with Zurich's northern New Jersey staff legal office for nine years and with AIG's northern New Jersey staff legal office for five-and-a-half years. Tom was an Assistant Prosecutor in Hudson County for three-and-a-half years and a Judicial Law Clerk in Bergen County for one year. Tom earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice at Saint Thomas Aquinas College and his Juris Doctorate from Touro College-Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. Tom's skills provide the Maritime Practice Group with a solid connection between international admiralty law and domestic laws in the United States.

The Maritime Practice Group features immediate assistance and investigations of incidents. John and Patrick Geraghty and Tom Foti are members of a rapid-response team of lawyers within the firm with extensive experience in the investigation of ocean marine terminal, shipping and trucking accidents. The Group provides emergency legal assistance for foreign vessels and other clients at ports in the United States.