Holland & Knight Maritime Attorney Christopher Nolan Plays Key Role in Securing ABA's Approval of Resolution in Support of UNCLOS

NEW YORK (August 11, 2021) – Holland & Knight Partner Chris Nolan, co-chair of the firm's Transportation & Infrastructure Industry Sector Group, led the successful effort to secure the American Bar Association's (ABA) approval of a resolution to reaffirm its support of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an international agreement that establishes the rule of law for the oceans and all maritime activities. The resolution was approved on Aug. 9 at the ABA's annual meeting in Chicago.

Mr. Nolan, who is an officer of the ABA's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) and the U.S. Maritime Law Association's (MLA) liaison to the ABA, chaired a TIPS subcommittee which prepared an authoritative report on the reasons why ratification of UNCLOS is long overdue. The report is available here.

"Since UNCLOS was signed in 1982, every president, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the maritime industry as a whole have supported ratification because it promotes the foreign policy, economical and security interests of the United States," said Mr. Nolan. "UNCLOS impacts maritime economic interests from the further opening of Arctic trade to maritime autonomous surface ships expansion, as outlined in our report, and the approval of resolutions by the ABA on Monday and MLA last February are important steps toward achieving U.S. Senate ratification."

Mr. Nolan is co-chair of Holland & Knight's Transportation and Infrastructure Group. He concentrates on shipping, focusing mainly on dispute resolution arising from charterparties, bills of lading, fire and explosion, total loss, limitation and insolvency. He was the only American lawyer to be included on the "Top 10 Maritime Lawyers" by Lloyd's List, a ranking of the most influential lawyers in the global maritime industry, in both 2019 and 2018.