Case Experience
Captain Stoller has been retained on maritime matters since 1992, on ocean-going ships, towing vessels, passenger vessels, and recreational craft. The examples below are drawn from public court records. Confidential matters are not described.
Matter types
- Vessel
- Towboat
- Issue
- Deckhand injury handling a lock line
- Role
- Testifying expert for plaintiff
W.D. Ky.
- Vessel
- San Francisco Bay ferry
- Issue
- Lookout and bridge practice
- Role
- Testifying expert for plaintiffs
N.D. Cal.
- Vessel
- Ocean-going ship
- Issue
- Crew training
- Role
- Maritime expert
E.D.N.Y.
Notable cases
Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker
554 U.S. 471 (2008), U.S. Supreme Court
Chief amicus on the brief of former shipmasters and expert mariners.
Amicus briefStewart v. Dutra Construction Co.
543 U.S. 481 (2005), U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court decision that defines what counts as a "vessel" under maritime law.
OpinionCabezas v. United States
N.D. Cal. 2007
A published decision now taught in law schools.
Clausen v. Icicle Seafoods, Inc.
174 Wn.2d 70 (Wash. 2012)
Maintenance and cure. The court upheld $1.3 million in punitive damages for willful failure to pay.
OpinionMatheny v. Tennessee Valley Authority
557 F.3d 311 (6th Cir. 2009)
Rules of the road and wake. A tug passing at excessive speed capsized a fishing boat.
OpinionSunset Limited, Big Bayou Canot
Mobile, Alabama, 1993
Expert witness. A towboat pushing barges in fog struck a railroad bridge, and the Amtrak train that followed derailed, killing 47 people.
NTSB reportDali and the Francis Scott Key Bridge
Baltimore, 2024
Consulting expert to the City of Baltimore in the limitation action after the bridge collapse.
NTSB reportSelected published decisions
- Cabezas v. United States (N.D. Cal. 2007)
- Kyles v. Eastern Car Liners (Ga. Ct. App. 2004)
- Harrington v. Atlantic Sounding Co. (E.D.N.Y. 2013)
- Wuestewald v. Foss Maritime Co. (N.D. Cal. 2004)
- Soliman v. Maersk Line (E.D.N.Y. 2017)
- Holzhauer v. Golden Gate Bridge District (N.D. Cal. 2017)
“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. (E.D.N.Y.)