Attorneys

• Title: Of Counsel
• Location: 80 Pine Street, 25th Floor New York, NY 10005-1759
• Email: murnane@freehill.com
• Phone: 212-381-3012
• Fax: 212-425-1901
• Areas of Practice: Cargo Loss and Damage, Charter Party, Collision and Casualties, Contract Drafting and Analysis, General Commercial Litigation, Military Transportation Contracts
• Cities of Practice: cities of practice
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• States of Practice: Partner
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Don P. Murnane, Jr is of counsel to the firm having retired from day to day practice in 2024. He continues to assist on occasional matters, having spent nearly 40 years handling a wide variety of domestic and international contract and tort maritime litigations and arbitrations.

In 2022 Mr. Murnane was recognized as “Best Lawyers -Admiralty Lawyer of the Year” for New York. In 2019 The Euromoney Best of the Best Global Expert Guide ranked Mr. Murnane in the top thirty maritime and shipping lawyers worldwide. He is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubble and has been annually recognized for many years as a leading maritime attorney by The Best Lawyers in America Guide; Expert Guide Best of the Best USA; Chambers USA; New York Super Lawyers Magazine and The International Who’s Who of Shipping and Maritime Lawyers.

Mr. Murnane graduated with highest honors from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point in 1982 where he ranked second in his graduating class. He earned his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. where he was on the Dean’s List and began practicing maritime law in 1986 (first with former Haight, Gardner Poor & Havens LLP in New York, and then joining FHM as a partner in 1997). He has testified in foreign litigation as an expert on U.S. maritime law and has served as an arbitrator including as tribunal chairman. He is a past Chair of the U.S. Maritime Law Association’s Liaison Committee to the Society of Maritime Arbitrators, Inc., New York and a former US Maritime Law Association Co-opted Delegate to BIMCO’s Documentary Committee. He has authored articles and lectured publicly and for clients in the U.S. and abroad on a range of maritime law, litigation and arbitration topics. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mr. Murnane worked for a shipping company and sailed as a deck officer aboard various types of oceangoing ships and inland marine vessels in both foreign and domestic trade.

When not practicing law, Don enjoys training bird dogs and is an avid outdoorsman.