The best outcomes are forged in the boardroom. File Image / Pixabay

• SeaSolveX launched Tuesday by shipping dispute lawyers Janci Karri and Jonathan Brown
• Firm urges mediation as the first response to commercial conflict
• Founders say Hormuz disruption is setting up a new wave of disputes
• Free dispute-diagnostic tool available on the firm's website

A pair of senior shipping dispute lawyers have launched SeaSolveX, a specialist maritime mediation firm urging the industry to try the boardroom before the courtroom.

The London-based firm was founded by Janci Karri and Jonathan Brown, whose careers span international firms including DLA Piper, Al Tamimi, and Clifford Chance, with Brown also serving as in-house legal director at CMA CGM.

The timing is no accident, with the founders telling Ship & Bunker the Hormuz crisis is creating the conditions for a new wave of charterparty, insurance, cargo, and commercial disputes.

The firm argues a single voyage dispute can now cascade across supply chains, drawing in owners, charterers, cargo interests, insurers, financiers, ports, and traders, with costs escalating long before any tribunal reaches a decision.

Its answer is what it calls a "mediation first" policy, encouraging structured commercial dialogue before adversarial processes take hold, which it says preserves legal rights while offering a confidential route to practical outcomes.

"The world of shipping and commerce moves at digital speed, yet dispute resolution still limps on at analogue pace," said Karri in the launch statement.

"The greatest cost of a dispute is rarely found in the final judgement. It is measured in years of uncertainty, escalating legal costs, management distraction, strained commercial relationships and opportunities that are never recovered."

"The best commercial outcomes are forged in the boardroom, not imposed in the courtroom."

The firm has released a free dispute-diagnostic tool on its website to identify cases where early mediation offers the greatest commercial benefit, and says it is building a digital platform with a technology partner to support earlier intervention.

"We've seen how even small disputes can disrupt an entire operation," said Brown.

"We plan to give companies a safe, structured way to resolve issues quickly, preserve relationships and avoid the spiralling costs and delays of traditional legal routes."