Derek A. Walker

Derek Walker is a Partner at Chaffe McCall, leading the firm’s International Practice. With extensive experience in arbitration and litigation, Derek has successfully handled a wide range of complex cases, including:

• A myriad of vessel collisions, allisions, incidents
• Cargo losses
• Oil spills
• Fires and Explosions
• Personal injury and death
• Complex international disputes

Derek works closely with clients in a full range of industries, including maritime, construction, oil and gas, cement, trucking, and domestic and foreign insurers. He has tried jury and judge cases throughout the U.S., and in Puerto Rico,  and has successfully handled numerous arbitrations and mediations. He has also investigated claims abroad and assisted with foreign counsel and litigation.

Fluent in English and Spanish, Derek’s international background and language skills have proven invaluable in handling cases across the Americas and Europe. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and the U.S.  Derek brings a unique international perspective to his practice.

Derek attended The Lawrenceville School and earned his B.A. from Duke University and his J.D. from Tulane University. He is admitted to practice in Louisiana and Texas, various federal courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. An accomplished speaker, Derek has presented on maritime and international law at conferences worldwide. Derek is a member of the Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado bars and is admitted to federal courts in these states, as well as to the First, Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court.

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Derek was invited by the U.S. State Department to speak to Central American lawyers on alternative dispute resolution. He has also delivered presentations on various topics to esteemed organizations, including the Inter-American Bar Association, the Maritime Bar of Venezuela, the Ibero-American Institute of Maritime Law, TerraLex, and at Posidonia events in Piraeus, as well as to numerous clients.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for
  Admiralty and Maritime Law, 2024
• Selected for inclusion in Louisiana Super Lawyers, 2007 to present
• Named as a Top Lawyer in Admiralty & Maritime and International Arbitration by New Orleans Magazine, 2014-2019, 2021-2025
• Rated AV Peer Review, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest ranking by peers for ethical standards and legal ability

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Member of the American and Inter-American Bar Associations
• Member of Defense Research Institute
• Member of the American Trial Lawyers Association
• Member of the Southeastern Admiralty Institute
• The Maritime Law Association of the United States
• Marine Insurance Claims Adjusters

• Represented client’s permanently moored “vessel” cement bagging facility, which was struck by a down bound vessel, causing extensive damages
• Represented a vessel which lost steering in the Mississippi River, resulting in allision with butane filled barge which exploded and resulted in 30 injuries, 8 deaths, extensive property damage, and an action against the steering gear manufacturer
• Defended vessel which lost engine power during transit of the Panama Canal, resulting in damage to a canal lock/wall, in the last US-based case before turnover of the Canal

• Representation and exoneration of one of the world’s largest cement manufacturers  in multi-billion-dollar three-week Hurricane Katrina trial, whose barge was accused of knocking down the flood wall which caused flooding of several New Orleans areas
• Representation of marine terminal in oil spill litigation arising from vessel tank breach upon impacting an uncharted, unknown object in Delaware Bay. Tried over four months on two separate occasions, appealed twice, and eventually resulted in a US Supreme Court argument.
• Representation of one of the world’s largest construction companies whose barges broke away in Hurricane Sally and allegedly caused damage throughout the Pensacola, Florida, community, which  resulted in dozens of state and federal court suits

• Defended Lloyds underwriters against claims of numerous container leasing companies whose containers were stranded throughout the world as result of the bankruptcy of CAVN (Venezuelan national shipping line), and in the eventual nationwide trials under the war risk clause
• Representation of French yacht manufacturer in nationwide state products liability cases arising from hull osmotic blistering
• Representation of Soviet fleets regarding spontaneous “in hold” combustion of cotton cargoes
• Defense of client in a traumatic brain injury case involving  individual whose head was crushed between unloading containers
• Representation of clients post-Soviet breakup in asset search, vessel seizures, and claims
• Defending family in a two-death racing boat incident in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.
• Defense of shipping company  in incident of  crewmember who fell 30 feet to his death
• Defense of client in fall of crewmember while descending 30 feet into ship hold
• Defense of client in several cases involving injuries due to pipe falling during offloading from truck
• Defense of injury and death claims from personnel basket falls, brain injuries, sympathetic dystrophy, back and shoulder injuries, and broken bones
• Representations of many companies and insurers defending personal injury and death claims occurring at terminals, facilities, and/or water ways, in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Missouri.