Roger Williams University School of Law is the new home of the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce (JMLC), the premier periodical in the field of maritime law in the United States.

Founded in 1969, the JMLC is a scholarly and practice-oriented periodical “devoted to all aspects of admiralty and maritime law, including the law of the sea.” Since its inception 50 years ago, courts and arbitrators – including the Supreme Court of the United States and foreign courts – have cited the Journal hundreds of times. 

“RWU Law is a fitting home for this leading publication,” said Dean Gregory W. Bowman. “We are a nationally known maritime law school that provides strong training in this field to the next generation of lawyers and leaders through our excellent faculty, the Marine Affairs Institute (MAI), and our partnerships with the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Sea Grant.”

RWU Law faculty and students will administer, edit, and publish the Journal in both online and print editions twice a year, coinciding roughly with the fall and spring academic semesters.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the law school and the Marine Affairs Institute,” said Julia Wyman, director of the MAI & the Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program at RWU Law. “The Journal is an internationally respected, professionally published journal that experts in the maritime field rely on for important analysis of current issues.” 

At its new home, the JMLC will remain a peer-reviewed publication supported by external funding. It came to Roger Williams as a generous gift from the family of George Jay Joseph, the Washington, D.C., lawyer who founded the publication. Two RWU Law alumni, Alison Laboissonniere Boyd (2006) and Bradford Boyd (2008) – founders of ANOVA Marine Insurance Services LLC, a major marine insurance firm headquartered in Pembroke Pines, Fla. – have generously agreed to underwrite the Journal’s production for five years.

RWU Law Professors Jonathan Gutoff and Justin Kishbaugh will serve with Wyman as the editors-in-chief. Second- and third-year law students will act as student editors.

“I look forward to working with Julia and Justin to maintain the integrity of the Journal while offering opportunities for our students to assist with the production of the Journal,” said Professor Gutoff. “We plan on keeping George Jay Joseph’s vision for the Journal alive and strong.”

“Our intent is for students to be an active part of the editorial team,” said Ms. Wyman. “That means they’ll be working not only with us internally but also with professionals in the field. In essence, the JMLC will serve a dual mission: providing a vital resource to keep maritime professionals up to date on important issues in the field while also putting our students to work alongside those professionals in practice.”

“Having this prestigious journal in-house will allow our student editors to develop their writing and editorial skills on an international stage and gain invaluable professional experience prior to even graduating from RWU Law, which is just such an excellent opportunity that we are so excited to provide our students,” said Dr. Kishbaugh.