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John L. Senning ’69
Find a Niche
John L. Senning ’69 (pictured with his sons) identified
a lucrative niche, combining admiralty and marine law
with trust and estate law.
While delivering frigid vans full of
doughnuts in the wee morning hours
of his Law School days, John L. Senning
’69 rarely had time to ponder how life
might shake out. Had the young husband
and father taken time to muse about the
future, it’s unlikely he could have predicted
the twists and turns his career would take.
“I feel blessed to be where I am now,”
says Senning, who runs a successful law
practice in Essex, Conn., that combines
admiralty and marine law with trust and
estate law. “I don’t regret any choices I’ve
made. Those choices, whether consciously
made or not, were pretty good ones as it
turns out.”
With a family to support, Senning
worked his way through Law School in an
assortment of jobs—working in ski shops, an
auto repair shop, and as an insurance
adjuster; doing telephone marketing; and
making the early-morning doughnut runs.
Life was busy, but going well. He had found
a house on the ocean in Cape Elizabeth for
a reasonable rent and was fortunate to be
one of the first Maine Law students in a new
program that allowed him to handle cases
for the District Attorney’s Office and argue
criminal appeals before the Maine Supreme
Court without first passing the Bar.
When it came time to do his third-year
thesis, Senning chose a hot topic for the
times—inverse condemnation—which
deals with the rights of and remedies for
landowners affected by airport expansions.
Little did he know what a huge impact his
choice of topic would have on his future.
His thesis adviser, Professor David Halpern,
knew this research would intrigue a colleague
who was starting a new Institute of
Aerospace and Aviation Law at Southern
Methodist University (SMU) School of
Law in Texas.
“Halpern conned me into going to the
graduate Law School program there,” says
Senning. “I don’t know what motivated me
to go! I’m from Connecticut and had never
been farther west than New York.”
When his SMU studies ended, Senning
and his family were ready to head back
east, and SMU helped Senning get a job
with a new satellite communications commission
in Washington, D.C. Shortly
before the move, though, he learned that
his new job had become “unfunded.” Had
that bad news not come, there’s a good
chance Senning would be leading a different
life today.
SMU scrambled to help Senning find
another job with a law firm handling aviation-related
matters. He wound up in New
York City with a firm that was counsel for a
large satellite communications company.
“On my first day, I was called in by the
senior partner who told me that they’d just
lost someone in their admiralty department
and asked if I would fill in,” recalls
Senning. “I knew it wasn’t really a question
that called for an answer!” Having studied
some maritime issues at Maine Law and
SMU, Senning figures he was “the closest
thing to anyone with experience.” The
partners told him he could pursue his other
interests if he kept up with the admiralty
cases.
As he gained experience working with
shipping and yachting clients and dealt
with some trust and estate work, Senning
3
started connecting dots. He reasoned that,
if he could combine those areas of law and
handle estate planning needs and corresponding
tax issues of people with yachts,
he might be able to build an interesting
practice at a time when recreational boating
was starting to boom. “I thought it
might be a good combination to take back
to Connecticut,” says Senning, who wanted
to move closer to his parents after he
and his wife divorced. He got a job in 1978
with a Hartford law firm, then moved to its
regional office in Essex, where there were
more yachts.
Senning’s instincts were right, and the
practice steadily grew. His job now is multifaceted.
He represents lenders making
yacht mortgages, expanding boatyards that
need help with marine and environmental
issues, and individuals who are buying large
boats and need financing or help in making
sure the vessel is in good condition. He
deals with yacht collisions and product lia-
I don’t regret any choices I’ve made. Those choices, whether
consciously made or not, were pretty good ones as it turns out.
bility issues and gives advice on obtaining
international registration and cruising permits.
He helps yacht owners with estate
planning and life-planning decisions.
“I love what I’m doing,” says Senning,
whose first job during high school was
working on boats in Essex. “My commute
now is less than a mile. I get to learn about
the stories of boats that are over 100 years
old, meet people from all over the world,
and I’ve made a lot of rewarding friendships
in this job.”
The job also has allowed him to indulge
in his love of boats. He and his wife, Susan,
and their two sons, Skylar, 11, and Hunter,
8, have numerous boats, including four
antique ice boats, a 70-year-old schooner,
eight collector canoes, a 1955 Chris Craft
mahogany speed boat, four Boston
Whalers, and several sailing dinghies.