Deborah C. Waters of Waters Law Firm in Norfolk focuses on plaintiffs’ maritime personal injury cases, including those under Jones Act, DOHSA, general maritime law, 905(b) and 933 of LHWCA, SIAA and PVA.  She served as a Commissioner of Virginia Port Authority for ten years ending in 2024, appointed by two governors for two terms. Ms. Waters is a 1988 graduate of Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary, where she later taught Trial Advocacy. She is past president of AAJ’s Admiralty Section and the first woman to serve in that office. She was member of the Board of Directors of Maritime Law Association and on the Board of Governors of Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.  She served as a member of the Maritime Law Committee for all Claimants in the BP Oil Spill MDL litigation in New Orleans.  In addition to many other honors and awards, she was honored as one of Virginia’s Most Influential Women by Virginia Lawyers Weekly Magazine. Waters is Chair of the Advisory Council of the School of Supply Chain, Logistics and Maritime Operations at Old Dominion University.