Michael Posemann, one of the senior partners at Cox Yeats, was honoured at the 2017 annual Maritime Law Association Conference for his
service and contribution to maritime law and industry in South Africa. Each year, the Conference chooses to honour a member of the maritime legal fraternity who is deserving of recognition. Held at Selborne Golf Estate in September, the guest list included high profile legal professionals and many national and international senior professionals from the shipping fraternity.

 Posemann was born in 1948, qualified as a lawyer in 1972, and has been involved in the field of maritime and international trade law since 1976. He is listed in the Legal500 as one of South Africa’s top maritime lawyers. The very sprightly and active 69-year-old will be retiring
at the end of this year after 44 years of legal practice. 

Posemann fell into maritime law a little by accident when he inherited his mentor’s shipping practice at Goodrickes in the late 1970s.
Together with many other stalwarts of the legal profession, he played a role in shaping the 1983 Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act, which paved the way for modern South African admiralty law. The Act, whilst undergoing some tweaking, has stood the test of time. 

It was not long before Posemann was making a name for himself in the field of maritime law and his name started to appear in the law reports. ‘The Heavy Metal’ was one of the highlight cases of his career and remains a far-reaching judgment on associated ship arrests and the subject of much academic debate. 
Posemann assisted in drafting both the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act and the Sea Transport Documents Act. He was also very
involved on the Maritime Law Association’s (MLA) marine insurance sub-committee in efforts to introduce a Marine Insurance Act in South Africa. Mike served on the Exco of the MLA in the late 1990s and was president at around the turn of the century.

At the Conference, Cox Yeats Maritime team partner, Andrew Clark, delivered a speech in honour of Michael’s decorated career to date. He said, “Mike is your archetypal “old school” lawyer. He espouses the qualities of professionalism, hard work, honesty and integrity and unlike many in modern society, his ethical compass unwaveringly points true north! His core values have remained steadfast and resolute throughout his career.”
  “There is a lesson in this for many of the younger lawyers out there â€" all the “Generation Y / Millennials” who cannot understand why they are not managing partners by the age of 30 â€" slow down, and stay true to your core values. You have time. Build up your experience. By my
calculations, Mike has spent around 85,000 hours developing his skills and gaining experience in this complex, exciting field of law,” said Clark.
 
It is therefore no surprise that Posemann’s advice to young lawyers entering the maritime field today is, “Maintain your integrity and ethics at all times”. 
His wife Ros, to whom he married in 1970, has been with him every step of the way in his journey. Ros accompanied Mike on many of his marketing trips abroad and it is fair to say that they were recognised as a formidable team by many clients.

Posemann is looking forward to retirement, which will see him move to a house in Garlington, Hilton and allow him more time with his family, as well as to enjoy watching sport and movies, or go to the gym. Posemann will remain a consultant with Cox Yeats so his expertise will not be lost to his team and the new generations of young maritime lawyers coming through the ranks