Douglas Burnett’s practice focuses on maritime, energy and telecommunications industries, and litigation and arbitration. His clients include major telecommunications companies with international cables; major energy, logistics and shipping companies with disputes involving transportation, commodity contracts and admiralty claims involving petroleum products, LNG and LPG, deep water ports and ocean terminals. He has successfully arbitrated and mediated cases before the International Chamber of Commerce, American Arbitration Association, Society of Maritime Arbitrators and North American Export Grain Association. Douglas has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for his maritime practice and is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell.

As adviser to the International Cable Protection Committee, which represents nearly 100 companies from 42 countries that own or operate the global submarine telecommunications cable networks, he counsels members on their rights and responsibilities under international law, associated treaties and national legislation.

Douglas was a panelist on the Submarine Cables: Critical Infrastructure discussion at the 34th annual Center for Oceans Law & Policy (COLP) conference in Washington DC on May 20 and 21, 2010. The conference, “United States Interests in Prompt Adherence to the Law of the Sea Convention,” includes many current and former US policy makers discussing a range of topics related to the maritime industry including national security and energy.

In 2007 he provided expert testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on accession to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the ratification of the 1984 Agreement regarding Part XI of the Convention. Douglas was a guest lecturer at the Convention at the Rhodes Academy of Ocean Law and Policy for the 2006 and 2007 sessions.

Douglas is a member of several professional organizations including The Maritime Law Association of the United States, where he currently serves as chair of the Committee on International Law of the Sea, a position he also held from 1996 to 2000; New York County Lawyers Association, where he chaired its Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee from 2003 to 2007; Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Maritimo; and the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the IEEE and Marine Technology Society.

Douglas served in the Brazilian Navy as an exchange officer and an operations officer with the Military Sealift Command of the US Navy. He also served as commanding officer of several units involving maritime logistics.

Published Articles and Books

• “Legal Lessons Learned the Last Time the Suez Canal Closed,” co-author, The Arbitrator, Volume 42, No. 1, April 2011.
• “Provisional Report for the Workshop on the Protection of Submarine Cables,” co-author and co-chair, Centre for International Law and the International Cable Protection Committee, Singapore, 14-15 April 2011.
• "Jones Act Ramifications on the Future of US Offshore Wind Energy Development," co-author, North American Clean Energy, Vol. 5, Issue 1, pg. 10, Jan./Feb. 2011.
• "Recovery of Cable Ship Repair Cost Damages From Third Parties That Injure Submarine Cables", 35 Tulane Maritime Law Journal, Vol.1, pg. 103, Winter 2010.
• “UNEP and the ICPC Bringing Reason to the Environmental Impact Discussion,” Co-author, Submarine Telecoms Forum, March 2010.
• “The Silver Oar and Pirates-The Past Comes Full Circle,” Seaport, New York's History Magazine, author, Dec 2009/Jan/Feb 2010
• Submarine Cables and the Oceans: Connecting the World, co-author, UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series No. 31. ICPC/UNEP/UNEP-WCMC (2009).
• “Cable Route Surveys are not Marine Scientific Research,” author, Submarine Telecoms Forum, Issue No. 43, March 2009.
• "Repair of International Cables Under UNCLOS," Subtelforum Issue No. 37, March 2008.
• "Security of International Submarine Cable Infrastructure - Time to Rethink?,” co-author, LegalChallenges in Maritime Security, 2008.
• "Submarine Cables Move To Center On United States Accession To The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention," Submarine Telecoms Forum, Issue 35, November 2007.
• "Douglas Burnett Testifies Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee," October 2007.
• "Comparison between ShellTime4 and ShellLNG Time 1," February 2007.
• "The Importance of UNCLOS to the U.S. Cable Industry," Telecommunications, Newsletter - First Quarter 2006.
• "The Law of Maritime Security Chapter,” co-author, Vessel Security Officer, Cornell Maritime Press, May 2006.
• "Underwater Infrastructure Protection, Risk Mitigation, and Pro-active Prosecution," March 2006.
• "International Law Considerations for Owners and Operators of Cabled Buoy Observatories," IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, Vol. 31, No. 1, January 2006.
• "Submarine Cable Infrastructure Defense Against Terrorists," Sea Technology, July 2005.
• "New Developments on Out-of-Service Submarine Cables," Telecommunications, Newsletter - 1st Quarter 2005.
• "A Draft International Convention for Mutual Repair and Restoration of Multiple Faults in Submarine Cables," IEEE OES Homeland Security Workshop, December 2004.
• "The Legal Status of Out-of-Service Submarine Cables," 137 Journal of Maritime Studies 22, June 2004.
• "High Density Underwater Fiber Optic Systems Security," Oceans 2002, Biloxi, Miss, September 2002.
• "Minimizing Risk in Multinational Energy Projects Using an Integrated Legal Team," Petroleo & Gas, March 2002.
• "A Brief History of Reported Vetting Disputes-Understanding the Past Points to a Safe Haven," XIV ICMA New York, October 2001.
• "Cable Crossing Mediation Service," ICPC EC meeting, October 2000.
• "Indemnity Provisions of Articles 4 and 7 of the 1884 Cable Convention," UCPC Plenary Dubai, March 1999.
• "International Protection of Submarine Cables, A Partnership of Cable Owners and National Governments," ICPC Plenary Orlando, April 1998.
• "Legal Cable Protection in the Next Century," ICPC Plenary Sydney, April 1993.
• "International Legal Issues in Submarine Cable Protection," Suboptic Paris, February 1993.
• "Amazon Patrol," U.S. Naval Institute, December 1978.