Ben Allums

Ben Allums is the Theodore M. & Louana Frois Distinguished Professor in International or Maritime Law Studies at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. He teaches courses in admiralty and maritime law, civil procedure, and torts, and serves as faculty advisor to the Loyola Maritime Law Journal and Evening Law Student Association.

Before joining Loyola’s faculty, Professor Allums built a distinguished career in maritime law and judicial service. He practiced with a leading New Orleans maritime law firm and clerked for three prominent jurists: Judge W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the late Pascal F. Calogero, Jr., Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. During his decade-long clerkship with Judge Barbier, he worked extensively on the Deepwater Horizon multidistrict litigation, one of the largest and most consequential environmental and maritime cases in American history.

Professor Allums earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University Law School, where he served as senior associate editor of the Tulane Law Review, graduated Order of the Coif, and received the Charles Kohlmeyer, Jr. Award as the law school’s outstanding graduate in maritime law. Professor Allums writes and presents on a range of maritime law topics. His scholarship has been cited by federal courts and leading treatises, and he regularly lectures at academic conferences and professional seminars. His teaching and scholarship are informed by extensive experience at the intersection of maritime practice, federal litigation, and judicial decision-making.