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8:00 a.m.         Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m.         The History of Maintenance and Cure and Maritime Punitive Damages from the Rolls of Oléron (1160) to  Atlantic Sounding and beyond with some practical ethical issues from the Plaintiff’s perspective along the way
Jerry Markham, practice limited to representing the victims of Maritime Injury and Wrongful Death, Kodiak, AK 

9:00 a.m.     A.  The path of a simple seaman’s suit to the US Supreme Court Atlantic Sounding and its future impact.  

                    B.  The Ethics of Pleading, Proffering, and Proving Novel Legal Theories
Rod Sullivan, Assistant Professor, Florida Coastal School of Law

• Novel Theories in Admiralty and Maritime Law
• Advising Clients Governing Novel Legal Theories
• Pleading Novel Theories
• Proffering Evidence Supporting Novel Legal Theories 

10:15 a.m.       BREAK

10:30 a.m.       Seamen’s Punitive Damage Claims Cheat Death: Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker and Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend 
Christopher W. Nicoll, Nicoll Black & Feig, Maritime Defense Counsel Seattle, WA

• Punitive Damages:  Revolutionary or A Trip Through the Way-Back Machine?
• Advising Vessel Owners, Maritime Employers and their Insurers on Maintenance and Cure Issues in the post-Atlantic Sounding World
• Modern Ethical Dilemmas in the Law of Maritime Benefits:  the Defense Perspective
• Thoughts on Preparing to Defend Against Punitive Damage Claims in Seamen’s Cases

11:45 a.m.       Panel Discussion:  Ethical issues from the Plaintiff and Defense perspective.
Steve Van Goor, Gerald Markham, Professor Rod Sullivan, Christopher Nicoll

• Insurance Coverage: Who is the Client?
• Candor To the Court About Binding Precedent While Urging a Change in the Law
• The Unrepresented Seaman
• Hypotheticals and Solutions 

12:45 p.m.       Adjourn