John T. Ward
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410.783.5795 (office)
410.783.1368 (fax)
Tom Ward is a Partner of the Firm. He has significant experience in admiralty and maritime litigation and complex civil litigation, including commercial, class action, mass tort, and personal injury litigation.
Background
Mr. Ward is a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy (1961) and has had significant sea-going experience, including a command at sea of the USCGC-95303, a cutter with a crew of 16. Before joining Simms Showers in 2008, Mr. Ward was an associate and partner at Ober, Kaler, Grimes and Shriver (1968–1984), a principal in Ward Kershaw, P.A. (1984–2006) and Of Counsel to the Law Offices of William H. Murphy (2006–2008).
Admiralty and Maritime
Mr. Ward has represented shipowners and their underwriters for more than forty years in the full spectrum of maritime litigation, from significant collision cases, to cargo loss/damage cases, to personal injury/death cases, to insurance coverage cases, to bankruptcy cases. Beginning in the 1970s, he focused heavily on representation of container lessors and was instrumental in handling cases which developed their rights to maritime liens in varying circumstances. Integrated Container Service, Inc. v. Starlines Container Shipping, LTD, 476 F. Supp. 119 (SDNY 1979) (first case holding that leases of containers are maritime contracts and that container owners have Rule B attachment rights).
Class Action
Mr. Ward has acted as a lead attorney in a range of class action cases, including cases against banks, manufacturers (Coca-Cola and Pepsi – antitrust), insurance carriers and credit card issuers. His clients have recovered many millions of dollars in these cases.
Mass Tort
Mr. Ward has been involved in several mass tort litigations. In the two most recent, his clients have included homeowners who recovered damages well into the tens of millions of dollars for environmental torts and employees of a major corporation who recovered more than $10 million for tortious violations of their constitutional rights.