John J. Michael

John Michael is Head of the firm’s Maritime & Offshore practice. He represents clients in a wide variety of corporate, finance, and commercial matters relating to shipping, marine terminalling, offshore drilling and oilfield services, and offshore wind. His experience includes maritime and energy transactions across the Americas, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa. He also represents clients in transactions relating to the trading, intermodal transportation, terminalling, and export of crude oil, refined products, LNG, NGLs, renewable fuels and dry-bulk commodities.

John Michael’s transactional practice is complemented by his unique experience in admiralty litigation, and he has tried cases in both state and federal courts involving charter party disputes and ship collisions. He has also represented clients before the United States Coast Guard, the U.S. Maritime Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other governmental agencies on issues related to marine pollution, maritime security, “Jones Act” compliance, port permitting and tariffs, and vessel registration and documentation.

His client work is regularly recognized by leading legal and maritime industry publications. John Michael is ranked nationally by Chambers USA as a Band 1 lawyer in Offshore Energy, and he received a “Deal of the Year Award” from Marine Money in 2022 and 2024. He has also been named in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the category of Admiralty and Maritime Law.