James Richard Woeppel

I have advised clients on a wide range of maritime and business matters for over 30 years in private practice.  Previously the managing partner at a Seattle firm for many years, I have recently formed my own firm, Woeppel Law PLLC.  My practice focuses on maritime and business matters and the fishing industry, assisting clients in business formation and organization, financing and sales, transactional work, regulatory concerns, operational issues and varied commercial matters.

I have represented clients in the full range of admiralty and business matters such as financing, purchase and sale transactions, vessel construction, fisheries, contractual disputes, vessel arrests, tort liability and insurance matters.  My clients have included commercial lenders, business and vessel owners and shipyards.  I have represented clients in proceedings in federal and state courts and federal regulatory agencies such as the Coast Guard, Maritime Administration, OSHA, Environmental Protection Agency, and the FCC, and a variety of state and local regulatory agencies.

I am active in the legal community, having served as Co-Chair of the Admiralty Committee of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington for many years.  I helped revise the Local Admiralty Rules for the Western District of Washington, and has been a speaker at maritime seminars and an officer of the Fisheries and Maritime Section of the King County Bar Association.  I have also served as a Federal Court mediator in a variety of admiralty and maritime cases.

Prior to entering private practice, I had a broad-based maritime background. After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, I served as a seagoing officer in the Coast Guard.  I then earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School and later received an L.L.M. in Environmental Law from that same university.  I spent five years as a Coast Guard legal officer, both in the Chief Counsel's Office in Washington D.C. and as a legal officer in Seattle, focusing on maritime, regulatory and litigation matters.

In addition to extensive legal experience, I have broad maritime, business, and community service experience.  I was CEO of a Seattle area shipyard, and currently am the legal advisor to a Seattle-based vessel safety organization, the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners Association.  I currently serve as an officer and board member of a local independent school, and previously served on other similar school boards.  I has served as CEO of a housing cooperative and on the board of a credit union and a non-profit housing organization.  I have also served and continue to serve on various other local community boards.