Biography
About J. Michael Pennekamp
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 avi-ation 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 transac-tions, international and domestic regulatory compliance and administrative actions while maintain-ing 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 mat-ters as well as first and third party insurance coverage disputes and bad faith claims. Due to his exten-sive 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 dis-asters 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 Sec-ond 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.
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
Professional Honors
- Chambers USA, Litigation: Insurance: Dispute Resolution-Florida, 2024 - Present
- AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Insurance Law, 2015 - Present
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Admiralty and Maritime Law, 2015 - Present
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation-Insurance, 2024 - Present
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Transportation Law, 2026
- Lexology Index: Transport-Aviation Contentious, 2024 - Present
- Florida Super Lawyers, Top Rated Insurance Coverage Attorney, 2019 - 2020
- South Florida Legal Guide, Top Up & Comer, 2020, 2021
- Florida Trend, Legal Elite, 2013
Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, “Tariffs: How Will They Affect The Marine Insurance Market,” Marine Claims International: Dublin 2025, September 24-26, 2025
- Speaker, “Son of a Son of a Charter, its Law and the Limitation Act,” Fort Lauderdale Mariners Club Insurance Seminar, October 2023
- 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
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)
In the News
- Quoted, What's Behind Florida Insurers Being Battered With Lawsuits These Last 10 Months? Law.com/Daily Business Review, October 10, 2023
- Quoted, Buying a Boat? Consider the Legal Implications, South Florida Business & Wealth, October 2016