Andrew Clark is a Partner and head of the Maritime Law Team at Cox Yeats Attorneys. His specialist practice areas are maritime law, international trade and insurance, and business law. Andrew is a member, and a previous executive committee member, of the South African Maritime Law Association
as well as the Durban Marine Insurance Association and has been an attorney for 20 years practising in this field of law.

Michael Posemann is a senior partner of the Maritime Team who has been involved in the field of maritime and international trade law since 1976. He is a member of the South African Maritime Law Association and was previously a president of the Association; an associate member of the London Maritime Arbitrator’s Association and a member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Michael was recently honoured by the South African Maritime Law
Association for his contribution to maritime law. 

The firm has developed an excellent reputation in this field of law and draws on a large base of local and international clients. Cox Yeats Maritime Team is also one of the few specialist teams with expertise in shipping law, international trade and logistics, and insurance law. The team has extensive experience in maritime law, both in representing cargo interests and their underwriters, and in representing shipowners/charterers and their Protection and Indemnity insurance (P&I) Clubs. 

Some key focus areas include advising on:
• Maritime claims relating to the carriage of cargo by sea, air and  land
• And drafting international sale and carriage agreements
• Port related matters including customs and excise, major port development projects and ship repair services.

Their expertise extends to both marine insurance claims arising out of the carriage of goods and general insurance claims, both in respect of loss of or damage to cargo and defending liability claims. They also deal with disputes arising out of contracts of carriage, marine and non-marine insurance, international trade law and the drafting of commercial agreements, including terminal service and storage and handling agreements for facilities within
South Africa’s ports.

The maritime professionals actively promote and balance individualism with team work and joint effort bringing about expedient and effective solutions
for their clients. In keeping with the firm’s mission and ethos, Clark says, “We strive to understand our clients’ operations and the detail of the legal landscape in which they navigate. We view client relationships as long term commitments and we therefore invest time in fully understanding our clients’ businesses and their legal requirements. Our preferred approach is to build relationships and rapport, which allows clients to be confident with our legal
grounding and ability to offer pragmatic solutions. We recognise that our clients seek practical solutions to their problems, which can be varied and complex. We are therefore extremely focussed on providing effective outcomes for clients.”