The British accent

Britons seem to have the advantage of accent: their exotic pronunciation can make even dubious observation sound like unimpeachable truth. They are also experts at the art of speaking coherently and with authority on topics they know little or nothing about. “Every Englishman can talk for 15 minutes on any subject without a note,” Norman Mailer has been quoted as saying.

Sarah Lyall, New York Times, December 11, 2006

The American Club's new website

The American Club has completely revamped its website, and not before time, as they are probably saying across the pond. And even though the site is new, the home page text describes the Club as it stood in mid-2005. Wassup with that, dude?

Okay, the site looks better than it did; it uses CSS, and it has drop-down menus. But it still doesn't validate as XHTML. (Tip: use the entity for the ampersand in "P&I".)

It's good you spruced up the site, but get an editor, guys.

Criminalization of marine liabilities

A hot topic these days. Joe Hughes touched on it when he spoke to the MLA Marine Insurance Committee. The Average Adjusters have made it the subject of their Annual Seminar this coming October. I wrote a bit about it here a while ago. More to come.

Average Adjusters Spring Luncheon

The Association of Average Adjusters of the United States held its annual spring luncheon at Moran's last Thursday, and the brokers didn't show. Attendance was way down, and folks are now worried about the likely turnout for the Fall Dinner.

MLA Spring Dinner

The MLA held its Annual Spring Dinner at Pier Sixty on the Hudson River last Friday night. The food was good, and the service was slow, but I had a great time. The weather, the deck above the river, and the company combined to create a lot of good feeling among the members of a professional association that has seen much better times.
I heard that the shipping industry itself is prospering right now, with the high demand for bulk commodities, but the lawyers who used to serve the industry in this country are looking elsewhere for work.

History of the American Club

Because people remarked on it this week, I thought I should spruce up my history of the American Club. I put it in a more readable template, did some overdue editing, and added a little material. Please let me know if I've got anything wrong.

Elysian Insurance Services

Can anyone tell me what happened to Elysian? Their website was a favorite of mine, but it has not been updated since last September, and that has me wondering whether they are still interested in the P&I business.

News and events - May 2006

The MLA Committee on Marine Insurance and General Average has invited Joe Hughes, the chairman of the managers of the American Club, to speak on the business of P&I Clubs on Wednesday, May 3 around 10:30 am at 40 Wall Street, 7th floor. Joe is a very good speaker in the British tradition, and he knows more about the P&I business than anyone else in this country. He gets around a lot, so you may have heard him before, but if you have not had the chance to hear him speak generally about P&I, come to the meeting.

The business meeting of the MLA will be held on Friday, May 5 at 9:30 at the City Bar Association on W. 44th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Attending this meeting is an excellent way to catch up on a year's worth of developments in maritime law.

Welcome

This blog is meant to supplement the marine insurance and maritime law website I maintain at www.johnsandercock.com. The website has documents, essays and links for people interested in the P&I business, marine insurance, maritime law, and litigation in New York.

I have been looking for ways to keep the website current, and especially for a way to post news. Blogger looks like an easy way to do that. Please let me know how I can make the blog (or the website) more useful.