Activity

RSVP: [email protected]
Dear All Committee Members,
By now you have received the MLA email notification providing the details of the MLA’s Spring Meeting in New York. Our Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, May 4 from 10:30 to noon at Blank Rome which has graciously opened its offices to us. Please be aware that our MLA Board for our convenience scheduled all meetings and events in Midtown this year to alleviate the need to travel from Midtown to Downtown and back again.
As a reminder, by separate email the MLA asked that you substitute the revised committee meeting schedule circulated today for the original committee meeting schedule attached to yesterday’s notification. Our Committee meeting was inadvertently dropped from the original draft but it appears on the revised version. Please use the new one.
I will upload the Committee Meeting Agenda separately; you will note we will provide a one-hour CLE panel discussion about Legal Issues Related to Offshore Wind Farm Planning and Installation with a particular emphasis on marine terminal involvement and allocation of risk. Those of you who attended last year’s meeting may recall we brainstormed topics about which members of the Committee were interested in hearing, and offshore wind was one of them. Your Committee Board listened and tried to bring you programs deemed pertinent as a result of your input. The panel discussion will give you leading edge information offered by practitioners who have current involvement in the process. In addition to the panel discussion, one of our young lawyers will give an update on recent Longshore cases, as more than one of you also noted we had not had such an update in a few years, largely because of the pressing demurrage and detention issues coming out of the FMC and because of the supply chain issues that so dramatically impacted us all during and after the pandemic. Lastly, we will receive up to the minute information about the status of the contract negotiations with the ILA and the ILWU. As you know, labor is a critical element of the operation of our marine terminals and global supply chain. Our Committee tries to keep its finger on the pulse of the issue and report it to you so you are able to speak with authority to your own clients.
The May meeting will be my final meeting as Chair of the Committee. You will be left in good and capable hands of those coming behind me. It was challenging and interesting putting together your meetings under the weight of the pandemic but your Committee Board that also included Ivan M. Rodriguez and Alberto J. Castaner-Padro, member volunteers, and non-member participants came through in spite of the difficulties and continued to provide excellent programs that we hope were both interesting and informative. The new Committee Board already has ideas for future meetings that will continue to assist you in your work. Although I will not be your Chair, I will be around to offer assistance if asked.
Please RSVP directly to me at [email protected] and let me know whether you will attend the May 4 Committee Meeting so we can get an accurate head count and include you in the security list. Furthermore, take a look at the social offerings that will be provided in the evenings. On Wednesday, the Opening Reception will be at Ascent Lounge at Columbus Circle. It will be a new place for us and looks very upscale. On Thursday evening the MLA offers a New York Harbor sunset cruise on the Courageous. As always, the Annual Meeting will be Friday at the usual place. See Wednesday’s MLA notification for details.
I look forward to seeing each and every one of you in New York and truly hope you can attend. It’s always great to see my friends again. Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns you may have about our meeting. 757-446-1434.
Kind regards, Deb Waters.