Bruce G. Paulsen

Litigation & Investigations, Maritime Litigation, Securities Litigation, Global Banking and Corporate Trust Group, Maritime and Transportation, Economic Sanctions and Cross-Border, Regulatory Practice, Business Litigation.

Bruce G. Paulsen is a partner and former co-head of Seward & Kissel’s Litigation and Investigations Group, head of the Sanctions Practice Group and has been a partner since 2002. He was named as a member of Legal 500’s “Hall of Fame” in 2023 and as one of the global Top 10 Maritime Lawyers by Lloyd’s List, in December 2020. Legal 500 2024 reported that Bruce “is an industry veteran, and first class in his knowledge and performance” and is “at the top of his game.”

Bruce specializes in handling complex commercial and maritime disputes. Bruce handles finance and securities-related disputes in the shipping industry as well as traditional maritime disputes, lien claims and environmental matters. He also has substantial expertise in the area of international trade sanctions; has been deeply involved in handling piracy issues before U.S. government agencies and is highly experienced in the recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards.

Further, Chambers USA 2024 reported that Bruce “has particular expertise in finance and securities litigation in the shipping industry. He acts for a wide variety of clients including bondholders, secured lenders, shipowners and charterers.” Legal 500 USA 2024 described Bruce as “the best pair of hands in US shipping litigation.”

Bruce has written and lectured frequently on litigation, arbitration, bankruptcy, piracy and sanctions issues, and is highly engaged, on a pro bono basis, in non-profit governance.

Mr. Paulsen is a member of the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, and is a Proctor member of the Maritime Law Association. He is a member of the faculty of the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute, the Practicing Law Institute and the Regulatory Compliance Association.

Mr. Paulsen received a B.A. from Columbia University in 1980 and a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law, cum laude, in 1985.