Thomas M. Canevari

  • Title: PARTNER
  • Phone: 212-381-3017
  • Fax: 212-425-1901
  • Email: canevari@freehill.com
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Experience   |    Recognition   |    Representative Cases     |     Presentations And Publications

Practice Areas:

Education:

  • United States Merchant Marine Academy, B.S., With Honors, 1982
  • Quinnipiac College School of Law, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, 1988

Bar Admissions:

  • New York
  • Connecticut

Other Court Admissions:

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Districts of New York
  • U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

Professional Affiliations:

  • New York State Bar Association
  • Maritime Law Association of the United States
  • Connecticut Maritime Association

Mr. Canevari graduated with Honors from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1982 with an unlimited horsepower Third Assistant Engineer license for steam and motor vessels. He then worked for 6 years as a Development Test Engineer on gas turbine engines before joining the firm in 1989.

Mr. Canevari concentrates on marine personal injury and death cases, including the defense of occupational disease claims. He has represented shipowners in cases dealing with collisions, allisions, fire, engine damage and oil spill response, investigation and litigation. His background and experience on steam powered vessels provide Mr. Canevari with unique insight and expertise in defending marine asbestos claims.

Mr. Canevari has dealt with cases in numerous jurisdictions, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Michigan  and Minnesota. He has been national coordinating counsel for asbestos matters for an international gas turbine manufacturer since 2004 and he represents the International Group of P&I Clubs’ Industrial Disease Committee.

Mr. Canevari holds the highest AV preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been ranked as a leading maritime attorney by such publications as The Best Lawyers in America Guide and Moffly Media.  Mr. Canevari was also received the 2017 Client Choice Award for New York in the field of Shipping and Transport Law. In 2019 Mr. Canevari was confirmed as an expert in maritime law by Euromoney’s International Trade & Shipping Guide.

  • 2017 Client Choice Award for New York in the field of Shipping and Transport Law.
  • The Best Lawyers in America Guide, Maritime Law, 2013-2020.
  • The Legal 500 - USA, 2018

  • Defense of Jones Act and other admiralty claims.
  • Investigation/defense of vessel owner in case involving collision between a tank barge and a Duck Boat in Philadelphia.
  • Investigation and representation of vessel owner in claim against platform owner as a result of an allision between a tug/barge and submerged platform after Hurricane Rita, resulting in oil spill and constructive total loss of barge.
  • Investigation and representation of several vessel owners in cases involving engine room fires.
  • Enforcement of post injury arbitration agreements in New York and Louisiana.
  • Arbitration of seaman personal injury claims.
  • Occupational Disease defense in seaman and longshoremen/harbor worker cases, along with gas turbine product liability cases.
Decisions of Interest

  • New York City Asbestos Litigation Update, Presentation in London, UK  September 2015.
  • United States Marine Occupational Disease Claims, Presentation at  West of England, London  November 2014.
  • Post Accident Arbitration Agreements in U.S. Seaman Cases, Presentation at Thomas Miller (Americas) Inc. Bodily Injury Seminar, New Jersey, September 2014.
  • Maintenance and Cure Issues Post Messier v. Bouchard, Presentation at the Spring meeting of the U.S. Maritime Law Association, New York, May 2013.
  • Maintenance and Cure Issues in U.S. Marine Occupational Disease Cases, Presentation in London, UK September  2012.