Tetley Lecture receives gift in the name of distinguished alumnus

National Maritime Services has made a generous gift to Tulane Law School’s William Tetley Lecture in Maritime Law in memory of Patrick Novak (L’89).  Novak, a founding partner of the prominent Miami-based admiralty firm Horr, Novak & Skipp, passed away in November.

The gift was made last week during the annual meeting of the Maritime Law Association of the United States in New York City, an organization in which Novak was an active member.  William Tetley, a distinguished Canadian maritime lawyer and prolific author in the field, was Novak’s professor and mentor at Tulane. Tetley taught maritime courses annually as a visiting professor.

The gift was made by National Maritime Services’ Chairman Robert Toney and its President, Alan Swimmer, in Novak’s name and will be used to continue to support the annual lecture. National Maritime Services has been a long-standing supporter of the Tetley Lecture, which each year brings distinguished faculty and experts in the field of admiralty law to Tulane.

National Maritime Services, a leading player in conducting arrests of ships and aircraft around the world, has been a supporter of the law school’s Maritime Law Center and Toney and Swimmer annually are guest lecturers in maritime courses on the process for arresting vessels.

“We’re grateful to Bob Toney, Alan Swimmer, and National Maritime Services for honoring Patrick Novak’s memory through this gift,” said law Dean David Meyer. “We’re proud of the impact Patrick Novak had as a Tulane lawyer and pleased to be able to celebrate his friendship with his mentor and Tulane visiting professor, Bill Tetley.”