Aksana Moshaiv Coone

Ms. Coone's admiralty and maritime practice primarily focuses on the representation of cruise ship passengers and crew members in claims involving shipboard and shore excursion injuries, wrongful death, and sexual assaults.  Drawing from her years of experience representing major cruise lines and other ship owners and tour operators, Ms. Coone has the unique advantage of viewing the law from both sides to expertly advocate for the rights of injured passengers and crew members.

Prior to founding her own law firm, Ms. Coone has gained over 17 years of litigation, mediation, and arbitration experience defending various businesses, corporations and shipowners.  She has successfully resolved numerous personal injury claims, including cruise ship injuries, premises liability, automobile accidents, products liability, toxic exposure and wrongful death, as well as commercial disputes, Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") claims and employee wage and hour, discrimination and termination claims. 

For nearly 14 years, Ms. Coone has represented all the major cruise lines and various vessel owners and tour operators.  She has handled passenger injury, wrongful death, sexual assault, and shipboard illness claims, as well as, crew member injuries and toxic exposure claims under the Jones Act and the general maritime law and individual and class action suits involving penalty wages, maintenance and cure and unearned wages claims.  Ms. Coone has also gained substantial experience with motion practice and appellate briefing in state and federal courts, including drafting Amicus petition and merit briefs for the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the trade association, Cruise Line International Association.

Apart from her extensive maritime litigation experience, Ms. Coone had widespread experience in advising cruise lines and tour operators on various legal and regulatory issues and the application of international maritime conventions.  She has also assisted in establishing policies and procedures relating to crew employment and the drafting of employment agreements, as well as the carriage of passengers, including regularly drafting and amending provisions in tour operator and cruise line passage contracts to conform to changes in the law and international conventions.  Between 2004 and 2012, Ms. Coone also co-authored Chapter II, "Cruise Ship Governmental Regulations," in Benedict on Admiralty, the authoritative American treatise covering all aspects of maritime law.

Ms. Coone graduated from UCLA, cum laude, in 1993 and from Southwestern University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 1997.