In seismic areas, wharf and piers are susceptible to earthquake damages. These structures should be designed for an acceptable seismic performance. In some cases the use of batter piles both in designing new wharves and upgrading an existing wharf is inevitable. Not only do they control the displacement of the wharf, but also limit the number of plumb piles and decrease the cost. In spite of the advantages of batter piles, there are some problems associated with their usage. The paper presents the common problems of batter piles in a number of major earthquakes. The major problem of batter piles is tied to their seismic performance. In order to investigate this problem, a typical pier with and without batter piles is analyzed. The nonlinear static procedure (pushover), which is an acceptable method for analyzing systems with a single degree of freedom, is used. The analytical studies show that the lateral stiffness of the pier considerably increases by the use of batter piles; which leads in a higher seismic demand. Moreover, since batter piles are subjected to compressive axial loads, their ductility is widely questioned. Another problem associated with the use of batter piles is the concentration of high forces leading in major damages in pile cap and/or pile head. Based on the insight gained in this research, it is recommended to avoid using vertical and batter piles together. However, if the use of batter piles is essentially inevitable, attention should be paid to proposed considerations and solutions presented in the article.