Jim Kuhne is a Partner based in the Walnut Creek and Los Angeles/Orange County offices of GRSM. For nearly twenty years, Jim has represented maritime transportation industry-leading vessel owners, operators, charters, marine terminal operators, and underwriters in civil litigation and emergency casualty response matters. Jim’s practice is focused on defending personal injury and wrongful death claims brought under the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the Death on the High Seas Act, federal general maritime law, and state law, including occupational disease and toxic tort claims arising from alleged exposure to asbestos and other toxic substances.
- Obtained summary judgment for shipowners against Longshore Act § 905(b) claim brought by widow and surviving children of longshoreman who claimed asbestos exposure aboard clients’ ships caused husband/father’s death
- Defended shipowner in Jones Act and unseaworthiness action brought by permanently disabled seaman who allegedly suffered traumatic brain injuries during onboard assault by fellow crewmember
- Represented owners/operators of charter dive boat and their underwriters in Limitation of Liability Act proceeding and associated federal and state government investigations stemming from dive boat fire resulting in more than 30 fatalities
- Successfully defended multi-national shipowner, equipment owners, and marine terminal operator against wrongful death and survival claims brought by surviving wife and daughters of freeway trucking fatality
- Advised and defended marine terminal operator and affiliate in multi-party litigation arising from traumatic brain injury allegedly caused by terminal equipment rollover
- Defended offshore tug operator and underwriter in multi-party personal injury litigation brought by rocket engineer who claimed he lost his leg to amputation resulting from tug captain’s drug use and other vessel negligence
- Defended client, interviewed vessel’s officers and crew, and liaised with United States Coast Guard investigators on behalf of shipowner and Club in connection with incident and subsequent litigation involving crewmember lost at sea in the North Pacific
- Represents numerous shipowners in their California occupational and environmental disease litigation
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of major domestic shipping line in maritime personal injury claim brought by Jones Act seaman
- Advised Charterer and Club with respect to vessel attachment arising from charter party dispute
- Recent Trends and Developments in the U.S., International Group of P&I Clubs Occupational Diseases Committee, September 24, 2024
- The Cruise Passenger Protection Act, Sea Venture, Issue No. 28, Steamship Insurance Management Services Limited, November 2017, at 64
- Maintaining Privilege During a Casualty Investigation, Marine Underwriters of Southern California, March 23, 2017
Admissions
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of California
Education
- J.D., with distinction, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 2007
- B.A., Political Science, University of Connecticut, 1994
Honors
- Super Lawyers® Rising Stars distinction in Transportation & Maritime, Civil Litigation, Real Estate, 2010, 2012
- Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 2023-2026