Question: “What is the legal obligation of a marina when a lender seeks to do a ‘friendly repo’ from a marina?” Answer This question came to us from a reader who provided no context for his “friendly repo.” Is our...
David Weil has been the proud author of the “Ask a Maritime Attorney” column in The Southern California Log Newspaper and Sea Magazine since 2006, with over 300 installments of the column. We have provided links in this section to those articles, covering a wide range of topics of interest to the California maritime and boating communities.
Question: I am an active yacht racer in California, and I was involved a collision with another boat during a regatta earlier this summer. The other boat hit us pretty hard, but they suffered only a small amount of...
Question: I am interested in using my 46-foot sailing catamaran in a charter business in California. My research into the legal requirements for charter boats led me to one of your old articles in...
Question: I had bottom paint and some other work completed during a recent boatyard visit. The other work included inspection and replacement of several thru hull seacock valves located below the...
Ask A Maritime Attorney: Can a boatyard Force me to release them from any liability even if they’re negligent?
June 6, 2024
Question: I took my boat to a boatyard for a list of projects, and when I arrived they asked me to sign a work order. The document seemed pretty straight-forward, until I started reading the fine-print on the back of the...