Superyacht Radio Weekly Update with Kitty McGowan

Michael Pennekamp, Fowler White Burnett

A South Florida native, J. Michael (Mike) Pennekamps practice focuses on providing counsel to clients on virtually every aspect of the maritime and aviation industries. Mike presently serves as outside counsel to several international and domestic marine and airline passenger and cargo carriers and related companies assisting them with transactions, international and domestic regulatory compliance and administrative actions while maintaining a heavy litigation practice.

Practice Focus
As the Chair of the firms Insurance Practice Group, Mike handles multiple insurance issues including commercial and personal lines; directors and officers (D&O) and errors and omission (E&O); general liability; and professional, employment and products liability. He has counseled clients on primary, umbrella, excess policies and reinsurance; captive, self-insured and surplus lines programs; and proof of claim/coverage analyses in receivership. He has litigation experience in first-party insurance bad faith litigation, third-party insurance cases, and cases involving the National Flood Insurance Program

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He also has extensive experience in large loss insurance defense litigation, mass tort litigation, catastrophe litigation, and insurance coverage litigation. He has handled all stages of litigation in hundreds of cases while defending insurers nationwide after Hurricanes striking Florida. Mike has represented nearly every major national insurer participating in the National Flood Insurance Program in the defense of claims regionally and nationally and was most recently named liaison defense counsel for all Write-Your-Own insurers in relation to the Hurricane Sandy claims filed in the Eastern District of New York.

He also represents a number of nonprofit companies and related individuals regarding insurance needs of such entities and their boards as well as casualties involving the entities and/or their employees. Mike has litigated wrongful death and other significant exposure personal injury, first and third party insurance coverage, bad faith, premises liability, general liability and homeowner association matters in Floridas state and federal courts Representative nonprofit clients include many of the larger participants in Floridas community based care system.

Mike is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College and his Juris Doctor degree from Florida State University College of Law. Thereafter, he served as a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Peter T. Fay of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

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John Jarvie, Oversea Yacht Insurance

Born and raised in San Diego, California, John Jarvie has had a connection with the ocean his entire life.  As the son of a sailor, John remembers spending weekends aboard his grandfathers 65 CT Ketch and his fathers 68 Bertram.  His mother, being the star of the Sea World water-ski show, had him wake-boarding behind the family tender at an early age.

John studied business at American University and obtained a minor in music, all while playing Division I soccer.  After graduating, he joined the family business to assist his father in growing the company throughout California and Hawaii.  In 2009, John realized the potential to seize an opportunity to expand the business to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  John joined a small local group called Young Professionals in Yachting and immediately appreciated the personal and corporate benefits that YPY offered.  After serving as Vice President of YPY for a year, John took over as President to grow the organization to 100+ members while founding International chapters in Monaco, London, and Holland.

John is a member of the Lauderdale Yacht Club and enjoys paddle boarding, boating, music, and soccer.  John M. Jarvie, II proudly represents the 4th generation of Oversea, founded by his great-grandfather, John M. Jarvie.  

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Kitty McGowan, President U.S. Superyacht Association

Kitty McGowan has worked in nearly every aspect of the boating, fishing and superyacht communities for the past 30 years.    Having grown up in Fort Lauderdale, she is no stranger to all things water.  Several years after graduating from Florida State University with a degree in Communications and Marketing, she began her career in the yachting industry, where she served as a chef aboard such high profile yachts as Octopussy, Thunderball and Moonraker.  In 1992, she relocated stateside and took an executive position with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.  It was in that position where she developed the foundation for her own company, NautiCom Communications, a boutique public relations, marketing and association management company focusing on the unique needs of the marine industry.

Ten years ago, Kitty and her team were tapped to take over the reins of a fledgling national marine trade association, the U.S. Superyacht Association.  Over that time, she has taken this small association from relative obscurity to become a powerful national and international force in the superyacht industry by more than tripling the membership, developing a national advocacy platform, and expanding the leadership to encompass the entire U.S.! Last year, she successfully lead the charge to get legislation passed to create the first large yacht registry in the United States.