Experience You Can
Depend On

Ralph J. Mellusi

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  • Managing Partner

Location:

New York, NY

Phone:

Fax:

212-385-0920

Email:

Ralph J. Mellusi is an experienced and highly effective Maritime Personal Injury attorney who is certified as a "Proctor in Admiralty" by the Maritime Law Association of the United States. As a founding partner of Tabak, Mellusi & Shisha, LLP, Attorney Mellusi has represented Maritime Personal Injury claimants in New York and throughout the United States for over forty years.

Since 1991, he has held the distin¬guished Martindale Hubbell rating of "AV Preeminent", which is given to attorneys evidencing the "Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal and Ethical Standards" and since 2008 has consistently been named to the New York Metro Su¬per Lawyers List.

The field of maritime personal injury is a complex blend of law and maritime operations. Mr. Mellusi has extensive professional knowledge of the maritime industry which derives from a Degree in Marine Engineer¬ing, from SUNY Maritime College, deep sea experience as a ship's engineering officer during the Viet Nam Conflict and re¬search undertaken at the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture.

A significant part of professional career has involved academia. From 1979 to 1981 he was an Adjunct Professor at New York University Graduate School of Continuing Education and from 1983 to 1989 was Adjunct Professor of Maritime Law at his Alma Mata.

His combination of practical maritime and legal competence have made him a driving force in the industry and have enabled him and his team to successfully recover large verdicts for their clients, which in the main, consist of vessels crewmembers, pilots, passengers, dock-workers and harbor workers.

FIRM PROFILE

Tabak Mellusi & Shisha, have decades of experience and a record of success in all types of maritime injury claims. From their offices in New York City, they have represented victims of maritime accidents throughout the United States. The firm has represented clients in high profile cases such as the loss of the Tall Ship Bounty during "Sandy", the loss of the container ship El Faro during "Joaquim" and most recently the collision between the USS John S. McCain and the tank vessel MV Alnic AC.

Bar Admissions

  • New York, 1975
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1975
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1975
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1975
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of New York, 2000

Education

  • New York Law School, New York, New York
  • NYS Maritime College
    • B.E. Marine - 1967

Classes/Seminars

  • Human Factors, Seaworthiness and Ships, MITAGS Institute, 2000 to 2000
  • Unseaworthiness: Human Factors & Merchant Marine, MITAGS Institute, 1996 to 1996
  • Anatomy of a Coast Guard Casualty Investigation, Coast Guard Docket, 1996 to 1996
  • Legal Civil Liability, Charter Industry News, 1987 to Present
  • Coast Guard License Suspension Revocation Proceedings, Charter Industry News, 1987 to 1987
  • Regulation Compliance: Is It Sufficient, Charter Industry News, 1988

Professional Associations And Memberships

  • Proctor in Admiralty & Member, Maritime Law Association of the U.S
  • American Bar Association
  • NYS Bar Association
  • New York State Trial Lawyers
  • Association, American Trial Lawyers Association

Past Employment Positions

  • Maritime Law at New York Maritime College, Adjunct Professor, 1983 to 1989
  • NYU Graduate School Continuing Legal Education, Adjunct Professor, 1981 to 1983