Primer On Maritime Law, 0314 ALBJ, 75 The Alabama Lawyer 111 (2014)
| Author | Gerald A. McGill |
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Would you like to handle certain types of personal injury and wrongful death cases in Alabama where the contributory negligence defense cannot be asserted by the defendant? If so, you need to consider cases in which the general maritime law of the United States, and not state law, governs.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The General Maritime Law Preempts State Law
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0It is important to recognize that the general maritime law applies to all injury and death cases involving a vessel on the navigable waters of the Unites States, superseding all state laws. The term "vessel" is defined as "every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water."1
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The navigable waters of the United States consist of the inland river system, the Intra coastal Waterway, navigable lakes, rivers and canals, and the offshore waters of the United States. About the only bodies of water that are not considered navigable waters of the United States are lakes that are totally within the borders of one state. A landlocked lake that borders on two states is considered navigable.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Concurrent State and Federal Jurisdiction
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Federal courts were given jurisdiction over admiralty and maritime claims by an express grant of jurisdiction in the United States Constitution.2 However, state courts have concurrent jurisdiction with federal courts over some maritime cases. The statutory codification of federal court jurisdiction over most admiralty and maritime matters is found at 28 U.S.C. § 1333 which provides in part:
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The district courts shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the states, of:
Any civil case of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled. [Emphasis added].3
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The last phrase, italicized above, is called the "saving to suitors" clause. It has been construed to allow state courts to exercise jurisdiction over maritime cases if the remedy sought was recognized under common law. This means that "in personam" claims arising out of maritime torts may be brought in state courts as well as federal...
To continue reading
Request your trial