Neil S. Lerner

Neil is a partner in Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin & Hansen, LLP in Los Angeles. He practices maritime & transportation law. He’s been designated a Southern California "Super Lawyer" and been recognized by Best Lawyers in America. He represents domestic and foreign insurers in first and third-party cases, & local maritime & transportation companies in business litigation.Neil has been featured in the LA Times, the LA Daily Journal, Forbes Magazine & LA Magazine. He was one of the first Certified Admiralty & Maritime Law Specialists in California (2012-2/2018) and served on the Admiralty Law Advisory Commission until 2/2018.An emerging practice area is advising private equity in due diligence. He has provided transportation legal advice to Och-Ziff re its participation in Uber’s Series E Financing, ABRY Partners re its acquisition of SambaSafety, Carlyle Group re its acquisition of CB URS Holdings Corporation, York Capital Management re its acquisition of Mode Transportation LLC, Mode Transportation LLC in connection with its effort to acquire TSG, Mode Transportation LLC in connection with its effort to acquire SunteckTTS, Olympus Partners in connection with its effort to acquire Superior Bulk Logistics and Gamut Capital Management, L.P. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation in connection with their investment in PS Logistics.He often speaks on panels re transportation law. He was interviewed recently in Lawyer Monthly Magazine and, from that interview, delivered a prescient speech entitled "Change is Everywhere in the Maritime and Transportation Industries," which forecasted the disruption in transportation stemming from driverless, blockchain, the emergence of state courts in transportation and the rise of private equity. In 2024, he's spoken to AMUSF and AIMU on "The Conception Dive Boat Fire," and on marine insurance at the Pacific Admiralty Seminar.Neil is best known for beating notorious fraudster Rex DeGeorge, in a major insurance fraud case, which started off the coast of Italy and ended in downtown LA with DeGeorge going to federal prison for sinking his vastly over-insured yacht on its maiden voyage in the Med. His true crime book about that 12 year saga, which involved “credible” death threats, Hollywood insiders and ancient maritime doctrines, and which Federal Judge J. Spencer Letts called "the single most incredible story I’ve ever heard from the stand," is entitled "An Act of Piracy," and is contracted with NY publisher Morgan James.(This may constitute attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)