Christopher A. Abel

Chris leads the firm’s Maritime Section, where he represents maritime clients in a wide variety of matters, including admiralty and maritime law, maritime insurance defense and subrogation, as well as employment law matters.

Prior to entering private law practice in 1995, Chris served for sixteen years as a commissioned officer and law specialist in the United States Coast Guard, eventually reaching the rank of Commander. While on active duty, he spent three tours of duty at sea and commanded two ships. He also served an extended tour with the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps and later served as the principal assistant legal officer for the Coast Guard's Mid-Atlantic region.

Chris’s employment law experience includes advising and representing a wide variety of clients in both the public and private sectors. As both a litigator and “house counsel,” he has assisted clients with matters ranging from sexual harassment, grievances, and employee privacy issues, to employee discipline, termination and post-employment matters, protection of trade secrets and business confidences, to wrongful discharge claims, pay and compensation disputes, and gender, race and disability discrimination issues.

Chris’s work in the realm of admiralty and maritime law has involved work in virtually every aspect of commercial life along the waterfront and well out to sea, to include serving as lead counsel for numerous complex marine casualty and environmental litigation cases, handling a wide variety of cargo, terminal, marina, shipyard, and maritime contract transactions and disputes, resolving Coast Guard regulatory and mariner licensure issues, working the spectrum of vessel charter, documentation, marine insurance, and fleet operation challenges, addressing a number of unique marine employment issues, and representing a range of clients in various vessel arrest, attachment and limitation of liability actions.

Chris has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America, a Virginia Super Lawyer, and as one of Virginia Business magazine’s Legal Elite. He also has, for each of the past three years, been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in the Commonwealth by Virginia Super Lawyers.

Chris serves as the General Counsel for the International Association of Marine Investigators (IAMI).