Legal services were provided by the applicant law firm to the defendant owner of the vessel Wisconsin (defence on behalf of the defendant against wages claims brought by crew members). The law firm alleged that USD 7,500 in fees remained outstanding. The law firm applied for leave for attachment of the Wisconsin, which was still lying in the port of Curaçao.

Held: Application refused.

The Wisconsin is flying the flag of Togo. Togo and Curaçao are parties to the Arrest Convention 1952. The Arrest Convention provides in art 2 that a ship flying the flag of a contracting State may only be arrested in the jurisdiction of a contracting State in respect of a maritime claim. The Arrest Convention describes under arts 1.1.a-q which claims are to be regarded as maritime claims.

The Court remains of the provisional opinion that the applicant's claim for lawyer's fees is not to be regarded as a maritime claim within the meaning of the Arrest Convention 1952. The fact that the interlocutory legal proceedings conducted by the lawyer related to a wages claim by the crew of the Wisconsin does not confer a maritime character to the lawyer's invoice.

In additional explanation the applicant has submitted that under art 1.1.c 'assistance' (Dutch: 'hulpverlening') qualifies as a maritime claim, that in society a lawyer is regarded as a professional assistant, and that the assistance rendered in this case related to the ship and its crew. The Court disagrees. The assistance rendered by the applicant to the defendant is not 'salvage' (within the meaning of the authentic English text of the Convention) provided to a ship in need of assistance.