James B. Ellis II

Jim Ellis focuses his practice on complex corporate transactions and regulatory matters for clients in the maritime and transportation industry. Jim is an experienced negotiator in both the public and private sectors. He counsels clients in the following areas:

• mergers and acquisitions
• corporate structuring
• financing
• transportation regulatory matters

In addition, Jim routinely collaborates with our Blank Rome Government Relations team on Arctic policy and strategy.

Jim has extensive experience in working with all segments of the domestic and international maritime industry. This experience, combined with his practical, business-oriented approach to dealing with client issues, has allowed him to develop a practice in facilitating transactions involving multiple segments of the industry to achieve client objectives.

Jim was a founder of Dyer Ellis & Joseph, which merged with Blank Rome in 2003. Prior to this, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard, rising to the rank of commander. Jim also served as deputy U.S. representative to the UN Law of the Sea Conference for transportation issues, and graduated from the prestigious Sloan Fellows Program at MIT.

• A Philadelphia shipyard, in the structuring and negotiation of an $850 million transaction for the financing, construction, and operation of 10 product tankers.
• A Hawaiian ferry agency, in the negotiation of the financing and construction of two high-speed ferries to serve the Hawaiian Islands.
• A marine support and transportation services provider, in the development of a joint venture to finance and construct the first new double-hull tankers for the U.S. domestic market.
• An express freight services provider, in the development of high speed cargo vessels to serve the international market.

• Award

  Blank Rome Honored by Human Rights First for Outstanding Dedication to Pro Bono Service

  October 19, 2016

  Kathy E. Ochroch, Kierstan L. Carlson, Patrick O. Cavanaugh, James B. Ellis II, Victoria Ortega

• Honor

  Blank Rome’s James B. Ellis II Receives Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award by USCGA Alumni Association

  November 9, 2015

  James B. Ellis II

• Deal

  StoneMor Partners L.P. Leases Cemeteries from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

  September 27, 2013

  Francis E. Dehel, Yelena M. Barychev, Peter F. Kelsen, Samuel H. Becker, Margaret Anne Hill, James B. Ellis II

• Alert

  Coast Guard Request for Comments on Mechanisms used by Publicly Traded Jones Act Companies to Prove Citizenship Following the Trico Investigation

  Maritime Developments Advisory December 2011 (No. 12)

  R. Anthony Salgado, James B. Ellis II, Jonathan K. Waldron

See all News and Views

• AV® Preeminent™, listed by Martindale-Hubbell®

• Volunteer outside counsel to the U. S. Coast Guard Alumni Association.
• Fellow at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Center for Arctic Study & Policy, which serves as a research resource for the Coast Guard on Arctic issues.

Admissions

• District of Columbia

Education

• U.S. Coast Guard Academy, BS, summa cum laude
• George Washington University Law School, JD, with highest honors
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MS