Veteran Maritime and Admiralty Attorney Joins Baker Donelson's New Orleans Office

James H. Roussel, one of the nation's most distinguished maritime attorneys, has joined the New Orleans office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Mr. Roussel has more than 40 years of experience in the maritime and admiralty practice. He has worked in the areas of marine insurance coverage disputes, cargo damage claims, maritime allisions and collisions, commercial transactions, including financing (conventional, leveraged lease and Title XI), public offerings of marine company securities, ship construction contracts, salvage contracts, sales contracts and ocean and inland chartering agreements. Mr. Roussel represents maritime employers and vessel owners and operators, dock and terminal owners, and underwriters in connection with collisions, allisions, sinkings and cargo damage claims. He represents general liability and marine underwriters concerning coverage issues involving a broad range of marine, general liability, excess and umbrella forms of coverage. Additionally, Mr. Roussel represents ship owners, charterers and lenders in commercial transactions. He has represented underwriters' interests in litigation arising from coverage disputes and his litigation experience extends to both blue- and brown-water matters. Roy Cheatwood, the managing shareholder of the Baker Donelson New Orleans office, said, "Jimmy is the best lawyer in his field. We are very pleased he has joined us." Ben Adams, the Firm's chairman and chief executive officer, echoed these comments and added, "Our New Orleans office continues to attract the best legal talent, and we are extremely proud that Mr. Roussel has joined us." Mr. Roussel graduated from Dartmouth College in 1961 and obtained his juris doctorate from Tulane University School of Law in 1964, where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi Honorary Society. He is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Association of Average Adjusters of the United States and currently serves as the associate editor of American Maritime Cases. Over the course of his extensive legal practice, Mr. Roussel has been involved in several notable and complex maritime cases, including the Union Faith/Warren Doucet collision in the Mississippi River and the McDermott DB-29 capsizing in the South China Sea, among others. An especially noteworthy case of his included the Brightfield allision with the New Orleans Riverwalk in 1996. Mr. Roussel has lectured on marine matters at numerous professional seminars in the U.S. and abroad, including six speaking engagements at the Southeastern Admiralty Institute. In 2003, Mr. Roussel received the Distinguished Maritime Lawyer Award from the Maritime & International Law Committee of the New Orleans Bar Association. He has been recognized in the field of Maritime practice since 2001 in The Best Lawyers in America, and was recognized in the 2005 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Mr. Roussel practiced law at Phelps Dunbar, LLP for 41 years. Nyka M. Scott, a professional associate of Mr. Roussel's, is also joining the office. She is a 2003 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law. Ms. Scott served as the chair of the Moot Court Board from 2002-2003 and was a semi-finalist in a special Moot Court competition the prior year. Ms. Scott received the Law Excellence Award in Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure and Trial Advocacy courses, and also is a recipient of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Council Award. She focuses her practice in maritime law. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC was ranked in 2004 as one of the 10 fastest growing law firms in the U.S. by The National Law Journal and is one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. Through strategic acquisitions and mergers over the past century, the Firm has grown to include more than 400 attorneys, and public policy and international advisors, in 10 U.S. markets, as well as a representative office in Beijing, China. Baker Donelson represents clients across the U.S. and abroad from offices in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans and Mandeville, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing, China.