Lauren B. Wilgus

Biography

Lauren Wilgus is a member of our Maritime Emergency Response Team (“MERT”).

Lauren Wilgus concentrates her practice in the areas of international and maritime litigation and alternate dispute resolution. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the shipping industry and counsels clients regarding maritime matters, including:

  • General litigation and counseling on behalf of domestic and foreign corporate interests
  • International and domestic commercial contract disputes, including arbitrations under AAA, ICC, SMA, and ad hoc arbitration terms
  • Marine insurance coverage disputes, including protection and indemnity, general commercial liability, and marine liability
  • Charterparty and contract disputes
  • COGSA and multi-modal cargo damage claims
  • Maritime attachment (Rule B) and vessel arrest (Rule C) actions
  • Marine casualty investigations
  • Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards and judgments
  • Commercial negotiations and dispute resolutions involving charter party, service contract, and other transportation-related agreements
  • Disputes related to delays to construction projects
  • Actions involving the U.S. Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability Act

Prior to entering private practice, Lauren worked both as a claims adjuster at a major Japanese shipping company and as a claims executive at a P&I Club.

Lauren has been recognized by Chambers USA every year since 2013 in shipping litigation, and is noted by clients as being a “fantastic operator” who “gets ‘wow’ reviews,” is “thorough and organized,” “quick to grasp the relevant issues and facts,” and a “rising star who is very good technically.”

Outside the Firm

Lauren is the proud mother of two boys and loves spending time at the beach. She’s an avid runner and competed in the NYC Marathon for the first time in 2019. 

Experience

  • A flag administration, in connection with the Deepwater Horizon casualty investigation, involving the explosion, fire, and sinking of a mobile offshore drilling unit, as well as extensive pollution in the Gulf oil spill.
  • A Swiss coal trader in the Eastern District of Virginia, in an action to obtain a multimillion dollar judgment at trial against alter ego entities; after successfully defending two appeals to the Fourth Circuit, collected the judgment by selling at auction a capesize bulker owned and operated by one of the alter ego companies.
  • Sellers and buyers of bulk commodities, in arbitration of disputes under sales contracts (ICC and AAA arbitration).
  • A major sports retail company, with the re-drafting of its Master Store Agreement as well as the Addenda applicable to each of its global retail partners throughout the world.
  • Numerous Rule B and Rule C matters, both in obtaining and opposing attachments and arrests.
  • Numerous matters seeking recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards and judgments.

News & Views

See all News and Views

Recognitions

  • 2020–2024, Admiralty and Maritime Law in New York, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2022, Top Ten Maritime Lawyers 2022, listed by Lloyd's List
  • 2013–2023, Transportation: Shipping/Maritime: Litigation Law, listed in Chambers USA
  • 2019–2023, listed in The Legal 500 United States
  • 2020, 2023 “Next Generation Partner,” listed in The Legal 500’s Guide to Up-and-Coming Lawyers Nationwide
  • 2022, listed in Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Expert Guides
  • 2015–2019, New York Metro “Rising Star” in International Law, listed in Super Lawyers

Affiliations

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Maritime Law Association of the United States
  • New York City Bar Association
  • New York County Lawyers' Association
  • Women's International Shipping & Trading Association
Professional Activities

Lauren has been an active member in numerous maritime industry organizations throughout her career, including the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the New York City Bar, the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association, and she was co-chair of the New York County Lawyers' Association's Admiralty Committee. Lauren holds the firm’s Board seat on the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce’s (“HACC”) National Board. Lauren was recently appointed co-chair of the Women's International Shipping and Trading Association ("WISTA") New York/New Jersey Chapter.

Lauren is co-chair of Blank Rome’s Parents Forum whose mission is to support parents striving to manage their professional and parental responsibilities. The BR Parents Forum provides a platform to exchange ideas and network among colleagues, clients, and friends, share information pertinent to working parents, and promote innovation. The BR Parents Forum has become a pillar supporting the firm’s broader diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, making the firm a place where everyone can do their best work.  

Credentials

Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court - New Jersey
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Education

  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey at New Brunswick, BA
  • Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, JD