Working With an Expert
Most maritime experts know one kind of water. Captain Stoller's career covered both.
Bluewater
Ocean-going tankers and cargo ships, international rules of the road, pilotage, bridge team practice, and the safety management systems that govern deep-sea fleets.
Brownwater
Towboats, barges, harbor tugs, ferries, and the inland rules. His service on the Towing Safety Advisory Committee put him in the room where towing safety rules were debated.
Commercial vessels of every kind: ocean-going ships, tugs and barges, commercial fishing vessels, ferries and passenger vessels, and recreational craft and jet skis.
Case types
01
Towing and Barge
Deckhand injuries, tow handling, lock operations, Subchapter M
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02
Tanker and Bluewater
Groundings, cargo operations, crew injury on ocean-going ships
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03
Harbor Pilotage
Master and pilot duties, shiphandling, docking and bar crossings
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04
Collisions and Allisions
Rules of the road, lookout, safe speed, bridge and pier strikes
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05
Jones Act and Unseaworthiness
Training, supervision, manning, and safe work practices aboard
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06
ISM Code and Safety Systems
What a safety management system requires and where it broke down
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07
Passenger Vessels and Ferries
Operations, crew practices, drills, and passenger safety duties
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08
Boating and Jet Ski
Operator duties, rentals, navigation rules on lakes and coasts
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What sets him apart
He has done the job.
He held command of tankers and piloted ships through one of the busiest port complexes in the country. His opinions come from the bridge, not from a textbook.
He knows how the rules are made.
Appointed to the Navigation Safety Advisory Council by Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña, where he chaired the Rules of the Road Committee, and twice to the Towing Safety Advisory Committee.
He writes reports that hold up.
In 34 years of expert work, no court has excluded him as an expert. Federal judges in several circuits have cited his testimony favorably.
He explains it to a jury.
Decades of deposition and trial testimony in federal and state courts.
“The above recitation of Stoller's background does not fully encapsulate his maritime experience, which is lengthy and distinguished.”
1,800+
Cases consulted since 1991
123+
State and federal cases testified
50+
Years in the maritime industry
From Captain Stoller's CV
From the bench
“Plaintiff's maritime expert, Mitchell Stoller, who, among his extraordinary credentials was twice appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to the Towing Safety Advisory Council … whose testimony I credit …”
Judge Nina Gershon, Harrington v. Atlantic Sounding Co. / Weeks Marine, Inc., U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York