Prof. Martin Davies elected to prestigious international maritime law association

The prestigious Comité Maritime International (CMI) has elected Tulane Law Prof. Martin Davies, Director of Tulane’s Maritime Law Center, as a Titulary Member for his significant contributions to the field.

CMI, a 121-year-old international organization comprised of national maritime associations from the world’s leading shipping nations, inducted Davies last week at its annual assembly in Mexico City. Titulary members are nominated by national maritime law associations; Davies, however, was nominated by the executive committee of CMI itself.

Titulary members are nominated and elected on their “significant contribution to work undertaken by the Comité or the furtherance of international uniformity of maritime law or related commercial practice.”  

“Election to the CMI’s Titulary Membership is a singular honor in the field of admiralty law,” said law Dean David Meyer. “It’s a credit to Martin’s international renown and to his leadership of our Maritime Law Center.”

While CMI’s membership is comprised of national maritime law associations, it has about 250 individual Titulary Members. The organization’s current president is Tulane Law alumnus Christopher O. Davis (L’79), who last year began a three-year term as the first American to lead CMI as its president.

Davies is an international authority on admiralty law who has taught in Australia, England, Singapore and Italy as well as the United States. He joined the Tulane Law School faculty in 2000 after a visiting appointment in 1999.

He previously taught at the University of Melbourne, Australia, where he was the Harrison Moore Professor of Law. Davies, who has been a professional actor, also has worked as a consultant for maritime law firms for 30 years. He serves on the Editorial Board of Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly and the Melbourne Journal of International Law.

 In addition to admiralty, he teaches in the areas of international sale of goods and torts. He has written (or co-written) books on maritime law, international trade law, international sale of goods and torts. He received the Felix Frankfurter Distinguished Teaching Award from the Tulane Law School graduating class in 2003 and 2011. He also was chosen for a Tulane University President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012.