Dodson & Hooks and the ITF: A Louisiana Law Firm Serving Seafarers Around the World

For decades, Dodson & Hooks has represented seafarers whose injuries, unpaid wages and wrongful-death claims cross national borders. That work grew from Richard J. “Jerry” Dodson’s early representation of foreign crewmembers and continues today through Kenneth H. “Kenny” Hooks III and the firm’s relationship with the International Transport Workers’ Federation.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation—commonly known as the ITF—is a worldwide federation of transportation unions. It connects unions across approximately 150 countries and advocates for millions of transportation workers. Within the maritime industry, the ITF’s Seafarers’ Section represents more than one million seafarers through over 200 affiliated unions in more than 100 countries.

For Dodson & Hooks, the relationship with the ITF reflects a shared commitment: a seafarer should not lose access to justice merely because the vessel, employer, flag, insurer, employment contract and injured worker are connected to different countries.

What Is the ITF?

The ITF was founded in 1896 and describes itself as a democratic, affiliate-led federation of transportation unions. Its stated purposes include promoting trade-union and human rights, advancing social justice, helping affiliated unions protect their members and providing assistance to transportation workers in difficulty.

Seafarers occupy a particularly vulnerable position in the global economy. They may spend months away from home, live and work under the authority of a vessel’s master and depend on employers for wages, food, medical care and repatriation. When a dispute arises, the vessel may be registered in one country, owned through a company in another, operated from a third and crewed by workers from several more.

The ITF works to address those problems by:

• Recovering unpaid wages;
• Assisting abandoned seafarers;
• Helping crewmembers obtain medical treatment and shore leave;
• Supporting the repatriation of workers stranded away from home;
• Monitoring compliance with collective-bargaining agreements and international maritime standards;
• Opposing unsafe working conditions and mistreatment aboard vessels;
• Challenging abuses associated with flags of convenience; and
• Holding vessel owners and other maritime companies accountable.

The ITF maintains a worldwide inspectorate that visits ships, investigates complaints and works with unions, port authorities, governments and maritime lawyers. According to the ITF, its inspectors recovered $37.6 million in unpaid wages during 2025 alone.

The organization’s role is essential because seafarers move approximately 90% of world trade, yet their work often takes place beyond public view and across legal systems that can be difficult for an individual crewmember to navigate.

Jerry Dodson’s International Maritime Practice

Jerry Dodson began practicing law in 1966. His path into international maritime law began when his firm represented the families of foreign crewmembers killed during an international voyage. Recognizing that the case required specialized knowledge, Dodson and his colleagues returned to LSU Law to audit maritime-law courses.

That decision helped build a practice that would eventually represent seafarers from more than 40 countries. Dodson developed an international network of maritime lawyers, maintained an office in Manila and traveled worldwide in connection with maritime cases. He became an attorney for the ITF and taught admiralty and maritime law at Southern University Law Center and in Tulane Law School’s summer program in Greece.

His contribution to maritime law also extends to legal education. Dodson established LSU Law’s first endowed chair in maritime law and donated a maritime-art and presidential maritime-document collection valued at more than $1 million. The collection reflects his belief that maritime commerce is vital to Louisiana and that future generations of lawyers should understand the law governing it.

Several reported decisions document the scope of Dodson’s work for international seafarers.

Raby v. M/V Pine Forest

In Raby v. M/V Pine Forest, 918 F.2d 80 (9th Cir. 1990), Dodson represented foreign seafarers pursuing wage claims against a vessel and maritime companies. Following a bench trial, the district court entered judgment exceeding $32 million, including substantial statutory penalty wages. The appellate proceeding addressed the security required to stay enforcement while the defendants appealed.

The case demonstrates the strength of American seamen’s wage statutes and the financial consequences that may follow when earned wages are wrongfully withheld.

Castillo v. Spiliada Maritime Corp.

In Castillo v. Spiliada Maritime Corp., 937 F.2d 240 (5th Cir. 1991), Dodson represented Filipino seafarers in litigation involving wage claims and releases purportedly resolving those claims. The dispute followed the vessel’s arrival in New Orleans and concerned employment terms that the seafarers contended had been altered.

The Fifth Circuit reversed the dismissal of significant portions of the case and remanded for further proceedings. The litigation illustrates a recurring challenge faced by foreign seafarers: protecting their rights when employers obtain releases or settlements after a dispute arises.

The Spiliada Representation Dispute

A related published decision, Dodson v. Spiliada Maritime Corp., 951 F.2d 40 (5th Cir. 1992), describes how five Filipino seafarers and their union representative demanded unpaid wages when the Liberian-flagged M/V Spiliadacalled at New Orleans.

After the seafarers retained Dodson, the vessel interests returned them to the Philippines and later obtained settlements through direct contact. Dodson challenged the conduct surrounding those settlements. Although that appeal concerned federal jurisdiction rather than the merits of the wage claims, the published history reveals the practical obstacles foreign seafarers can encounter: rapid repatriation, separation from counsel and pressure to resolve claims far from the court where relief was sought.

Kenny Hooks and the Continuation of the Firm’s ITF Work

Kenny Hooks joined Jerry Dodson’s practice in 1997 and is now the managing partner of Dodson & Hooks. Like Dodson, Hooks is one of the lawyers appointed to represent the ITF.

Hooks’ connection to maritime work is personal as well as professional. He is from a family of merchant mariners, commercial fishermen and union dockworkers. Before becoming a lawyer, he worked with his father and grandfather aboard commercial fishing vessels in Louisiana waters and spent college summers as a longline commercial shark fisherman out of Venice, Louisiana.

Hooks has represented injured and deceased seafarers and their families in matters involving the Philippines, India, Thailand, Ukraine, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Panama, Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. His work includes personal injuries, wrongful deaths, unpaid wages, maintenance and cure, unseaworthiness, maritime liens, vessel arrests and attachments, jurisdictional disputes and international arbitration.

He taught Admiralty Law and Maritime Personal Injury at Southern University Law Center from 2007 through 2021 and has lectured on American maritime law, forum selection and jurisdiction internationally. He also serves as an arbitrator in seafarer and cruise-line disputes.

Sawicki v. K/S Stavanger Prince

One of the most important reported cases handled jointly by Dodson and Hooks is Sawicki v. K/S Stavanger Prince, 802 So. 2d 598 (La. 2001).

Andrzej Sawicki, a Polish seafarer, suffered a severe eye injury aboard a Norwegian-flagged vessel approximately 30 miles off the Texas coast. After receiving treatment in New Orleans, he brought a maritime injury claim in Louisiana. The vessel interests argued that a provision incorporated into his employment agreement required litigation in Norway or Poland.

Dodson and Hooks challenged that restriction. The Louisiana Supreme Court held that Louisiana Revised Statute 23:921(A)(2) expressed a strong state public policy concerning forum-selection provisions. Under that statute, such a provision could not displace a properly filed Louisiana action unless the worker expressly, knowingly and voluntarily agreed to and ratified it after the incident.

The court reversed the dismissal and remanded the case. The decision remains important for foreign seafarers because it recognizes that an employment provision signed before an injury should not automatically deprive an injured worker of access to a Louisiana court.

The case also demonstrates an important maritime remedy. Jurisdiction was obtained through attachment of the M/VStavanger Prince, after which the defendants posted a $750,000 bond and secured the vessel’s release.

Llagas v. Sealift Holdings

More recently, Dodson and Hooks appeared with Michael Colomb in Llagas v. Sealift Holdings Inc., a federal case involving a Filipino seafarer’s claims for unpaid and penalty wages.

The seafarer alleged that the companies operating the Sealift fleet employed foreign crewmembers without complying with several American shipping statutes, including requirements governing shipping articles, crewmember documentation and wage payments. The case generated extensive litigation over maritime jurisdiction, international arbitration, Philippine proceedings and enforcement under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

Whatever the result in a particular proceeding, litigation of this kind demonstrates why international seafarer cases require unusual experience. Counsel must understand not only the underlying injury or wage claim, but also vessel ownership, flag-state law, employment contracts, collective-bargaining agreements, jurisdiction, arbitration, foreign proceedings and the availability of maritime security.

Why the ITF–Dodson & Hooks Connection Matters

An injured seafarer may be thousands of miles from home when an accident occurs. A worker who has not been paid may have little ability to remain in port while a dispute is investigated. A grieving family may not know the true vessel owner, the identity of its insurer or where a claim can be filed. In some cases, the vessel may depart before the worker can obtain meaningful legal assistance.

The ITF provides an international network capable of identifying problems and assisting seafarers at the port level. Experienced maritime counsel can then determine whether legal action is available, identify the responsible parties and insurers, preserve evidence and, when appropriate, obtain security through arrest or attachment of a vessel.

That combination—international worker support and experienced maritime litigation—can be decisive.

For Jerry Dodson, the work began with the families of foreign crewmembers who died at sea. For Kenny Hooks, it continues through cases involving injuries, deaths, wages, jurisdiction and arbitration across the maritime world. Together, their work reflects the principle at the center of the ITF’s mission: the people who move the world’s commerce are entitled to dignity, safety, fair treatment and access to justice.

Contact Dodson & Hooks

Dodson & Hooks represents American and international seafarers in cases involving maritime injuries, wrongful death, unpaid wages, maintenance and cure, unseaworthiness, vessel arrests and attachments, jurisdictional disputes and maritime arbitration.

To discuss an international seafarer matter, contact Dodson & Hooks in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 225-235-3380 or email Kenny@dodsonhooks.com.