Gavin Fitzmaurice

Gavin Fitzmaurice is a Partner in Webber Wentzel's Cape Town office, specialising in maritime law and admiralty litigation. He has been involved in major maritime litigation resulting from disasters and casualties since 1992, including all aspects of casualty investigations, dealing with access to crew, vessels and documents, taking evidence on commission, subsequent trial and arbitration work, and in courts of marine enquiry.

He has extensive experience in all aspects of arrest work, having represented parties in relation to enforcement proceedings, obtaining of security, and both effecting and setting aside complex associated ship arrests. He also has considerable experience in port related work, P&I Club matters for owners and charterers, mortgage foreclosures, judicial ship sales, marine and transport insurance, cargo claims, loss of life and personal injuries in the marine context, as well as ship repair matters and related arbitration work. He has been involved in precedent‑setting legal decisions and numerous judgments throughout his career.

Gavin served as President of the Maritime Law Association of South Africa (MLASA) from August 2018 to August 2020, and chaired the Cape Chapter of the MLA from 2007 to 2017. He is an external examiner for the University of Cape Town's Admiralty Law Department. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Law (1994), an LLB (1990), and a BA (1989) from the University of Cape Town. He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and is recognised by Chambers Global, Best Lawyers, Legal 500, and Who's Who Legal for his shipping and maritime law expertise.