Grady S. Hurley

Grady Hurley is a partner in and co-leader of the maritime litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution team and co-chair of the Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources Industry Team. Since 1979, he has focused on maritime, oilfield, and energy litigation. Grady has broad-ranging dispute resolution and transactional experience at the intersection of energy and maritime law, including in areas such as offshore energy exploration, production, and distribution, where a range of complex legal, regulatory, and business issues collide. He regularly counsels clients on matters involving cargo, collision, allision, product liability, toxic tort, insurance, indemnity, death, personal injury, property damage, lease cancellation, right-of-way disputes, explosions, and multi-party complex and commercial litigation in state and federal courts. An industry thought leader, Grady is deeply involved in emerging issues such as autonomous shipping, cybersecurity, wind, and other challenges and opportunities facing industry participants. In recognition of the excellence of his work, numerous industry and legal publications and ratings agencies have listed him among the top practitioners, regionally and nationally including Chambers USA and The Legal 500 United States. In his maritime practice, Grady has engaged in brown water, offshore, blue water, and pleasure craft litigation, including drafting of briefs to the US Supreme Court on Suits in Admiralty Act cases, indemnity, and amicus briefs. Grady is also a certified mediator and arbitrator focused on maritime, offshore industry, and energy disputes. As part of his oilfield practice, Grady represents pipeline companies, offshore platform operators, crewboats, drilling companies, exploration and production companies, seismic operators, catering companies, and other oilfield service concerns in transactional matters, torts, and commercial disputes. He has drafted complex maritime and energy service agreements involving vessels, pipelines, rigs, and platforms, and was actively involved in the initial litigation defining the Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act. Grady has represented oil companies in fishery laws and lobbying, including oyster and coastal restoration cases. Grady has lectured extensively on risk management, discovery, ethics, indemnities, and admiralty and energy law, while remaining active in local and national bar associations. He has authored numerous publications on issues such as contracts, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) jurisdiction, and regulatory matters, and is co-author of the chapter on admiralty and maritime law in the highly regarded publication, Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts, which is updated and published annually by Thomson Reuters. Grady is currently president of the Maritime Law Association (MLA) and chaired its Offshore Industry Committee. He serves as a vice chair of the American Bar Association Admiralty & Maritime Law Committee. A past president of the Tulane Alumni Association, he is a member of the advisory council of Tulane's Admiralty Law Institute and the Tulane Maritime Law Journal board.