Steve Stancliff is a partner with the boutique maritime law firm of VENTKER HENDERSON STANCLIFF, PLLC, in Norfolk, Virginia. He represents the interests of commercial ship owners, salvors, ship repairers and their insurers in cases involving marine casualties, collisions, groundings, marine pollution, machinery failures, governmental investigations, personal injuries, as well as vessel arrests, attachments, limitation actions, and salvage proceedings. He is a past Chair of the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, a past Chair of the Maritime Law Association’s Committee on the Regulation of Vessel Operations, Safety, Security and Navigation, and past board chair of the non-profit, Tidewater Arts Outreach. He is the MLA’s current representative to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s National Navigation Safety Advisory Committee (NNAVSAC).

Before entering private practice, Mr. Stancliff was a career Coast Guard officer, retiring at the rank of Commander. As an attorney, he advised Coast Guard operational commanders and represented the interests of the government in various courts as a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, a special assistant U. S. attorney, as well as in courts-martial proceedings. He also served aboard two ships as a deck watch officer, engineering officer, and law enforcement team leader, with shore assignments in engineering support and training.

Mr. Stancliff has a B.S. in marine engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy, an M.M.A. (Master of Marine Affairs) from the University of Rhode Island, and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is a member in good standing of the bars of the Commonwealth of Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Stancliff lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife Christie and their German Shepherd Dog, Ruby.