Neil B. Mooney, Esq., LCB
Twenty-seven years on the cargo ramp, in the brokerage house and running his own forwarding and NVOCC group before law school. Licensed Customs broker since 1978, lawyer since 1999, and he consults on virtually every case.
Neil comes from an uninterrupted 175-year family line of Customs brokers, Customs attorneys and Customs officials. His own career began on the ramp at JFK in June 1972, as an air cargo supervisor for British Airways (then BOAC), loading and unloading international flights, running crews of up to fifteen, and driving bonded cargo to and from the aircraft.
In December 1976 he moved to Kuehne+Nagel at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, where as the corporate license-holding Customs broker he ran the Port of New York brokerage operation day to day, hired import management nationally, and conducted Customs compliance audits at every office in the country. He became a licensed Customs broker in 1978. From 1980 to 1984 he was general manager of Arthur J. Fritz & Co. in Miami, over all import operations and ocean export. In August 1984 he founded Flagship Trade Services, Inc. in Miami and ran it for twelve years: a Customs brokerage, NVOCC, freight forwarder, bonded warehouse and IATA air cargo agency.
After 27 years in the industry he graduated with honors from the Florida State University College of Law in 1998, having also studied international law at the Universidad San Pablo in Madrid, and founded The Mooney Law Firm in May 1999, the predecessor of Liang + Mooney. He has argued at the U.S. Court of International Trade on antidumping, broker licensing and bond matters, is admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, and has appeared in federal courts in Ohio, Utah, New York, California, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Michigan, South Carolina and Wisconsin, always for companies and individuals engaged in foreign trade or transportation. He also provides expert opinions in third-party litigation about brokerage and forwarding practice.
Neil became a Florida Supreme Court certified civil mediator in 2015. In April 2016 the Florida Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame, recognizing his service as the association's president and in other roles since 1980, his tenure in the brokerage and forwarding industry, and his reputation for integrity.
Today Neil is of counsel to the firm. He speaks Spanish, has three children, and spends his free time camping, hiking local trails, following college sports, and traveling to historical sites, the more obscure the better.
Writing by Neil
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