Harris & Co. Maritime Law Office

The law firm Harris & Co. was established in 1996 and is managed by Adv. Yoav Harris and specialize in shipping, sea freight and commercial litigation, with a cumulative experience of over 70 years.
The firm established by late Adv. John Harris (1940-2023), a graduate of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, who upon his immigration to Israel worked in the firm of S. Friedman, and later established his independent firm, specializing in maritime law.

Adv. Yoav Harris a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Haifa, graduated with honors in 1999, and served as a partner in leading law firms as the director of the litigation department, in addition to joint activities with late Adv. John Harris.

As of 2018, Adv. Yoav Harris serves as the leading partner in the firm of Harris & Co. in collaboration.

At the Forefront of Maritime Law

The firm offers legal services covering all aspects of shipping and maritime law representing ship owners, ship operators and managers, ship agents and freight forwarders. The firm is known for the quality and depth of its legal presentations, it’s international knowledge of shipping law which are presented to the Israeli Courts, the quality of its pleadings and cross-examination and the quality of its Court appearances. The firm has a proven record in ship arrests with highly satisfactory results to its clients. The firm is regarded as a leader in the maritime law field as a result of the many years of experience of John and Yoav and their knowledge of English and international judgements and precedents. The firm’s litigation ability is well recognized by virtue of the quality of its pleadings and uncompromising cross-examination.

The Firm’s Fields of Activity

Maritime Law - The firm attends to ship arrests, the purchase and sale of ships, ship financing, on-going advice in chartering and the carriage of cargoes of crude and refined oil, damage to cargo, marine insurance and advice in importing/exporting matters.

The firm is appointed by English and American legal offices and the legal advisors of foreign entities, to attend to maritime arrests and other maritime law matters. The firm represents freight forwarders, ship agents, ship owners and ship charterers. The firm receives instructions from the foremost shipping and maritime law departments of international law firms and keeps abreast of English and other jurisdictions’ maritime law judgments and publications.
In the non-litigation aspect of the practice, the firm provides legal advice relating to the various contracts of carriage and attends to matters relating to the chartering, sale and purchase of ships and the financing of ship purchases.
The firm dedication to its client’s interests and its profound expertise in maritime law (drawing, when necessary, upon legal principles of other maritime law jurisdictions) have generated the respect of other maritime law offices and the maritime law court and courts of higher instance including the Israel Supreme Court.
The “Harris” advocates are involved in the establishment of binding legal precedents in Israel maritime law. The articles published by the firm in the publication “The Cathedral” relating to the Admiralty courts authority to act as a “Prize Court” was quoted by The Admiralty Court (Case. No. 26861-08-13) and by The Supreme Court (Civil Appeal No. 7307/14).

Commercial Litigation - In this field the firm represents contractors, commercial entities, projects, engineering and production, entities, partnership, disputes, shareholders disputes, contractual claims, contractor claims, limitations on commercial activities, administrative claims, sporting entities and private individuals.
The firm’s expertise in the commercial aspects of maritime law have contributed to the continuing growth of client’s basis requiring legal advice in this aspect of maritime law.

Prominent Professional Publications

The firm is regularly receiving “top tier” rankings from: Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, Bdicode, Dun & Bradstreet.

According to the Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 ranking, the firm
“Has significant litigious capabilities”.
“A very devoted and young team mixed with staff rich with experience. A great combination!”.
“also, notably active in ship arrests”.

In addition, in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 ranking it was written about Adv. Yoav Haris -
“He is the type of lawyer any client would need. He easily handles complex matters while being very devoted to the case”.
He is a quick thinker and very professional.””

Also, written about late Adv. John Harris:
“well-established figure with strong expertise in trust and insolvency disputes. He is regularly noted by his fellow lawyers as a sound choice to handle conflict-of-interest referrals”

Form the year 2021, the firm has edited the Chambers Global Practice Guides - Chambers & Partners Global Shipping Guide, covering 23 jurisdictions around the world, providing up-to-date shipping and maritime law information, including port state control, maritime accidents, owner liabilities, cargo damage claims, Maritime liens and ship detentions, passenger claims, tax relief for shipowners, and the implications of Covid 19.

Adv. Yoav Harris contributes articles to the Israeli monthly magazine “The Cargo”, Ship Arrest in Practice guide of Shiparrested.com and for the Shipping Global Practice Guide for Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, ICLG, Lexology.

Also, Adv. Yoav Harris also manages the firm’s forum: “International Shipping, International Trade and Energy Resources” on the Legal ZAP website (ZAP Yellow Pages (https://www.mishpati.co.il/forum/79).

The articles on the jurisdiction of the Maritime Court to serve as a Prize Court were quoted by Both the Supreme Court (Civil Appeal 7307/14) and the Haifa Maritime Court (Claim in Rem 26861-08-13 regarding the M/V “Estelle”).

Additional articles are displayed on the firm’s website: http://www.lawships.com