William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law to Take Place Feb. 24

Tulane Law School’s William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law will take place on February 24 at 5 p.m. and feature Professor Robert Merkin KC, Professor of Law at the University of Reading. 

Merkin, a leading authority on insurance and maritime law, is the author of many widely acclaimed books and articles, including Marine Cargo Claims and International Conflict of Laws: Common, Civil and Maritime. He has held teaching positions at universities around the world and has served as President of the British Insurance Law Association and as Honorary Life President of the International Association of Insurance Law (AIDA). His expertise has also led him to advise foreign governments on insurance law reform, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. 

This year’s lecture, entitled “Is Utmost Good Faith a Myth?”, will take place in the Wendell H. Gauthier Moot Court Room 110 and will be immediately followed by a reception in the Marian Mayer Berkett MPR. 

The William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law was established in 1999 by Tulane Law’s Maritime Law Center to honor the legacy of William Tetley, a distinguished Canadian maritime lawyer with an international reputation. Tetley was the author of numerous influential works in maritime law and had several distinguished careers, including as a practicing lawyer, politician, and professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. From 1984 to 1998, he taught a mini-course each year in Tulane Law’s admiralty program, fondly referring to his annual visits as “going south each winter like a Canada goose.” 

The lecture was created to recognize Tetley’s lasting contributions to Tulane Law’s maritime program, his scholarship, and his service to the international maritime community. It was later endowed by a gift from Tetley himself, and he is fondly remembered by the Tulane Law community following his passing in 2014.