DAVID T. MALOOF
Education:
Dave was raised on Long Island and attended Chaminade High School, its leading catholic high school, where he captained a sports team. As middle linebacker on the football team under the legendary coach George Toop, Dave's claim to fame was blocking kicks, principally with his helmet, as he was too slow to get his arms up; Dave won two games for the team blocking punts and extra points. Dave's passion led him to be selected to lead the team in prayer before games. Unbeknownst to the team, Dave mainly prayed that he would start to get his arms up.
Later, at Columbia University, Dave was elected Student Council Chairman, the highest position in student government. He was also the "voice" of Columbia football and basketball on the campus television station, and founded a non-profit bookstore. At graduation Dave received both the Alumni Prize (voted by the Class of 1980 to its most faithful and deserving member) and the Pullman Award (awarded by the Student Government to the Class' most outstanding member). He also received the Milch Prize (awarded by the faculty to the outstanding member of the Junior Class), the Willen Prize (for the best history or political science essay) and the State Farm Exceptional Student Fellowship (awarded to 15 students in national competition). Dave also was selected to Columbia's most prestigious senior society, where he led a successful effort to include women.
Dave graduated magna cum laude and phi beta kappa from Columbia in 1980. He earned a B.A. degree with a History major and an English minor. He received his J.D. in 1983 from the University of Virginia School of Law. Dave was also a finalist in the New York State competition for the Rhodes Scholarship and an intern in the Office of the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, then the Honorable Warren Burger.
Journalism:
After school, Dave worked as an investigative television reporter, seen on WNET-13, and specialized in uncovering corruption and waste in government. Over a two-year period, he prepared over twenty separate investigative reports concerning corruption and mismanagement in the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles which lead to the convening of a special session of the state legislature, an investigation by the State Commission of Investigation, a criminal investigation and finally the revamping of the entire system of distributing licenses in New Jersey. As a direct result of his reports, a century old practice of using political patronage to award government contracts in New Jersey was ended. He also uncovered the systematic beating of inmates at a state prison.
His investigative work was the subject of a laudatory feature in The New Jersey Reporter magazine. He received prestigious television journalism awards from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the New Jersey Bar Association. He also worked for NBC (WVIR - Virginia) and for WSMW (Worchester), and in print journalism.
Law:
Today, Dave is senior partner in Maloof Browne & Eagan LLC, a small international law firm in New York.
The United States Marine Insurance Claim & Recoveries Firm has described Dave “as among the most effective advocates for the rights of shippers and their insurers for justice in international commercial disputes.” The American Institute of Marine Underwriters has described him as one of the “leading recovery attorneys” in the nation.
He and his two partners have been involved in some of the most high profile commercial transportation casualties of the last 20 years (M.V. Elma Tres; M.V. APL China; M.V. Hual Europe) and their work has led to tens of millions of dollars in recoveries. Admiralty, rail and trucking law has been widely made more equitable through their efforts and creation of leading precedents. In the past few years these cases have included:
- Sompo Japan Insurance Co. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 456 F.3d 54 (2d Cir. 2006), , judgment on remand 2007 WL 2230091 (S.D.N.Y. 2007), affirmed 341 Fed.Appx. 707 (2d Cir. 2009), cert. granted, judgment vacated 130 S.Ct. 3499 (U.S. 2010), reversed and remanded to District Court, 389 Fed.Appx. 47 (2d Cir. August 5, 2010) (original decision ultimately reversed but principle remains in place as to export shipment). The leading U.S. case on the rights of shippers as consumers of rail services.
- Fortis Corporate Insurance v. Viken Ship Management, 2010 WL 785659 (6th Cir. 2010) (Sandra Day O’Connor, setting by designation) The leading U.S. case on the right of shippers to sue managers of foreign ships in tort.
- Great American Insurance Co. of New York v. TA Operating Corporation, 2008 WL 1848946 (S.D.N.Y. 2008). The leading U.S. case on the obligations of premises owners to protect against the epidemic of cargo theft.
- Nipponkoa Insurance Co., Ltd. v. Watkins Motor Lines, Inc., 431 F. Supp. 2d 411 (S.D.N.Y. 2006). The leading U.S. case on the application of the material deviation doctrine to warehouse owners to protect shipper’s rights.
- Nipponkoa Insurance Co., Ltd. v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. and CNR Carrier, Inc., 2011 WL 671747 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). A leading U.S. case on the right of shippers to recover from 3PL’s in tort.
- Kyoei Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd., v. M/V Maritime Antalya, 248 F.R.D. 126 (S.D.N.Y. 2007). A leading U.S. case on the ethical obligations of shipowners in discovery.
Dave is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating in the United States legal field for both skill and integrity, and his firm is in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He has been repeatedly selected by his peers as one of New York's "Super-Lawyers." His legal accomplishments were profiled in the magazine The American Shipper, August 1998. He has been quoted on legal issues in The New York Times (2004) and The Journal of Commerce (2006). He has also published a variety of scholarly articles including in The Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce (2003), The Maritime Advocate (2004), and The New York Law Journal (2005 and 2009).
He has lectured on transportation law issues worldwide: including in Beijing, Singapore, Manila, Tokyo, London and been honored to address national conventions in Shanghai (Chinese Maritime Law Association), Australia (Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand) and in the United States, including the national conventions of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Technology Asset Protection Association, the National Cargo Security Council, and the Transportation Consumer Protection Council. Dave has been qualified and testified as an expert on U.S. marine insurance law in Tokyo District Court. For ten years his firm has run a world renowned conference in New York on trends in transportation law called the International Cargo Recovery Conference, bringing in speakers from around the globe. He is also an adjunct professor teaching maritime law at St. John’s University and trial advocacy at the Roger Williams School of Law.
Dave was selected by both the American Institute of Marine Underwriters and the Transportation and Logistics Council to write an amicus brief in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha v. Regal-Beloit Corp., __U.S. __, 130 S.Ct. 2433 (2010), representing the interests of both the American marine insurance and manufacturing industries in the United States Supreme Court.
Dave resides in Darien, Connecticut where he is married to an attorney, Jean Sweeney, and has two children Julia (age 18) and David (age 16). He is active in St. John Catholic Church, where he founded the Men's Fellowship, and received a rare special leadership award from the Church. He has also been active in elective and an appointive position in Darien's local government, and has coached both YMCA basketball and Darien town football. He is a member on the Alumni Board at Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY. He also engages in charitable and human rights work and actively supports the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, traveling recently to Lebanon where he supports a family in a Christian refugee camp and other church projects. He is a member of the Leadership Council of Churches For Middle East Peace, a leading advocacy group representing many of the nation’s largest churches based in Washington, DC.
He also sits in the first row on the goal line at New York Jets football games, and recently appeared in the centerfold of their yearbook. And so, after all these years, he still finds himself having to pray before football games. |