Home - Blank Rome LLP

Register to receive insights and analyses on breaking news and trends across varying industries.
<a class="link-primary mt-4" href="/subscribe">Subscribe</a>

Philadelphia, PA

New York, NY

Wilmington, DE

Cincinnati, OH

Princeton, NJ

Los Angeles, CA

Houston, TX

Tampa, FL

Shanghai

South Florida

Pittsburgh, PA

Washington, D.C.

Chicago, IL

Orange County, CA

Dallas, TX

Boston, MA

Main

CO-CHAIR, HOUSTON OFFICECO-CHAIR, MARITIME PRACTICE GROUPKeith Letourneau is a member of our Maritime Emergency Response Team (“MERT”). Keith Letourneau focuses his practice on maritime and energy transactions and litigation matters, including:<ul>	<li>Contract negotiations and disputes</li>	<li>Vessel arrests and attachments</li>	<li>Collisions and allisions</li>	<li>Oil and hazardous materials pollution</li>	<li>Complex commercial litigation</li>	<li>OCSLA transactions and disputes</li>	<li>Oilfield contracts</li>	<li>Insurance coverage opinions</li>	<li>Cargo damage</li></ul>Keith’s government contract experience includes shipyard bid protests, labor standards disputes, and appeals of contracting officers’ final decisions before boards of contract, as well as solicitation and bid reviews and evaluations. He has also defended document-intensive shipyard and oil rig repair contract disputes.He is co-chair of the firm’s Blockchain Working Group. He has published recent articles about the industry, specifically as it relates to maritime matters, and presented on Blockchain issues at the firm’s Litigation Department CLE program in Philadelphia in November 2017.Keith&nbsp;served as a trial attorney for both the U.S. Coast Guard’s Procurement Law Division and the Admiralty Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division. He is a retired commander of the U.S. Coast Guard. His military service included assignments as a deck watch officer aboard a medium-endurance cutter that engaged in drug law enforcement efforts in the Caribbean Basin and as commanding officer of a Coast Guard patrol boat stationed along the southeast Texas coast.Keith is a member of the Order of the Coif, an honorary academic society that recognizes law students, teachers, judges, and lawyers for their scholarly or professional achievements.Keith is ranked by Chambers USA for his work in shipping litigation matters, which notes that clients describe him as a “very steady and thoughtful attorney” and that he is “very studious, measured and looks at the overall structure of a case, and what may happen several steps down the road.”

core/freeform

Texas

Virginia

Energy

Maritime

Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) & Digital Assets

Renewable Energy

Artificial Intelligence

The Iran War and International Shipping: Navigating Disruption and Legal Risk in the International Shipping and Logistics Industries

Trump Administration Issues 60-Day Jones Act Waiver Amid the Iran War

10th Annual North American Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Conference

Navigating Today’s Geopolitical Waters and the Impact on Maritime

One-Way Ratchet and a Different Kind of Pastry: Trump Tariffs at the Supreme Court

MAINBRACE: January 2026

Blank Rome Appellate Insights: Winning on Appeal – December 2025

Keith B. Letourneau Named Maritime Attorney of the Year by Texas Lawyer

V.O.S. Selections, Inc. and the Sword of Yoshida

MAINBRACE: September 2025

Blank Rome Appellate Insights: Winning on Appeal – September 2025

Maritime Attorney of the Year Finalist: Keith Letourneau, Blank Rome

'V.O.S. Selections v. United States' and the Sword of Yoshida

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2026 Best Lawyers in America®

Blank Rome Assembles Cross-Practice Trade Enforcement Team Amid Increasing Government Investigations

Keith B. Letourneau and Domingo M. LLagostera Named Finalists in the 2025 Texas Legal Awards

Blank Rome’s Comisky Cup Presented to Houston Office

180 Days of the Trump Administration—Quick Hits on Executive Orders, Actions, and Policies

MAINBRACE: June 2025

Navigating Uncertainty: How Recent IEEPA Tariff Rulings Impact the Maritime Industry

Navigating Maritime Evidence: The Power and Practice of Using Demonstrative Aids in Litigation

Navigating Maritime Evidence: Demonstrative Aids in Action

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Highly Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2025

Chambers USA 2025 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

New USTR Measures Target Chinese Maritime Sector: What You Need to Know

Navigating the New Tariff Terrain: How Trump's Latest Policies Impact Global Trade and Shipping

The SHIPS Act: The Advent of a New U.S. Merchant Marine Fleet?

MAINBRACE: March 2025

Between Rhetoric and Reality in Trump’s Administration

Tenth Annual Energy Industry Update: Innovating | Adapting | Advancing

Hurricanes and Their Cost on the Maritime Industry

When Is a Contract Maritime and Why Is That Important?

MAINBRACE: October 2024

Massive Port Strike Begins Across U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts – ILA Strike Becomes Most Disruptive Work Stoppage in Decades

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2025 Best Lawyers in America®

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Highly Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2024

Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

Blank Rome Awards Inaugural Energy Scholarship to University of Houston Law Student

8th Annual North American Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Conference

Texas Maritime Public Infrastructure Projects to Watch

A Tale of Two Canals

The Legacy of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990

MAINBRACE: March 2024

Regulatory Challenges and Consequences

Blank Rome: Not Built in a Day

Implications of the EU’s Emissions Trading System, Fuel EU Maritime Regulation

Maritime Transportation: Whose Responsibility Is It When Produce Arrives in Damaged Condition?

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2024 Best Lawyers in America®

Blank Rome Obtains Confirmation of $28M Fuel Arbitration Award for Preble-Rish Haiti S.A. against Republic of Haiti

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Highly Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2023

Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

Litigation

Maritime – Litigation

Business Litigation

Trade Enforcement

<ul>
<li>Vessel owners and operators, in myriad personal injury and wrongful death cases brought by Jones Act seamen, mooring masters, and longshoremen.</li>
<li>Terminal operators, with respect to dock-allision claims.</li>
<li>Fuel suppliers, regarding maritime lien claims for the provision of bunker fuel to ocean-going vessels.</li>
<li>Numerous vessel owners and charterers, with respect to domestic and international cargo damage claims.</li>
<li>A vessel owner, in a cargo vessel capsizing case.</li>
<li>Represented the interests of the United States, U.S. Coast Guard, and Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund with respect to a variety of maritime and environmental claims while serving on the staff of the Justice Department’s Aviation and Admiralty Section.</li>
<li>Vessel interests and pilots, with respect to Coast Guard and state pilot marine casualty investigations.</li>
<li>Vessels&#8217; interests, with respect to personal injury and wrongful death claims involving crane accidents.</li>
<li>Handles numerous demurrage disputes between charterers and owners, and buyers and sellers of petroleum products.</li>
<li>Provides charter-party and maritime contract advice to maritime-industry clients.</li>
</ul>

Keith B. Letourneau

Keith B. Letourneau

Offices

Stay Connected

Slide Menu

Slide Search

Offices

Stay Connected