A South Florida native, J. Michael (Mike) Pennekamp’s is Chair of the firm’s Insurance Practice Group. His practice focuses on providing counsel to clients on virtually every aspect of the maritime and aviation industries and he presently serves as outside U.S. counsel to several international and domestic marine and airline passenger and cargo carriers and related companies assisting them with transactions, international and domestic regulatory compliance and administrative actions while maintaining a heavy litigation practice.

Mike’s litigation practice over the past 30 years has focused primarily on marine and aviation matters. Mike has litigated personal injury, wrongful death, commercial and other significant exposure matters as well as first and third party insurance coverage disputes and bad faith claims. Due to his extensive federal court litigation experience, Mike has represented a significant number of large domestic insurers in the defense of large loss litigation, mass tort litigation and litigation following natural disasters in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Texas.

Mike is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Eleventh Circuits and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College and his Juris Doctor degree from Florida State University College of Law. Thereafter, he served as a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Peter T. Fay of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the News

• Buying a Boat? Consider the Legal Implications, South Florida Business & Wealth, October 2016
  

Publications

• Co-Author with Helaine S. Goodner, Wading Through The Choice Of Law Quagmire: A Guide For The Uninitiated, in LITIGATING THE AVIATION CASE 699 (Andrew J. Harakas, ed., 4th ed., 2017)

Professional Associations and Memberships

• The Florida Bar
• Dade County Bar Association 
• Fort Lauderdale Mariner's Club
• Marine Industries of South Florida
• Florida Yacht Broker's Association
• Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
• Maritime Law Association of the United States
• U.S. Superyacht Association 
• Aviation Insurance Association
• Greater Miami Aviation Association
• Disaster Protocols Committee Member, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), University of Denver
  
  

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, "Liabilities, Insurance and Legal Issues Facing the Industry as We Reopen," SuperYacht Radio, May 2020
• Speaker, "Emerging Liability Trends: Where is the airline liability going?", Alta Aviation Law Americas - Aviation Industry Legal and Finance Conference, September 2018
• Panelist, "Yacht Workshop", International Marine Claims Conference, September 2016
• Moderator/Speaker, "Update on Litigation and Liability- Recent Cases That Should be in the Spotlight for Everyone", ALTA Aviation Law Americas Conference, September 2016
• Presenter, "But, I've Got The Right Of Way!", Fort Lauderdale Mariners Club Seminar, November 2015
• Panelist, "Unruly Passengers – From the Tokyo Convention to the Montreal Protocol: Is This an Adequate Solution?", ALTA Aviation Law Americas Conference, September 2014