General Maritime Law

General maritime law is the body of federal, mostly judge-made law that governs injuries and other disputes connected to ships and navigable waters. In asbestos cases it often applies to sailors, Navy veterans and others exposed aboard ships, and it can change which rules of liability and damages apply.

Origin

Maritime law in the United States rests on the Constitution's grant of admiralty jurisdiction to federal courts and on centuries of judge-made law inherited from English and older sea law. Courts apply it to a tort when the injury occurred on navigable water, or was caused by a vessel there, and the activity has a substantial connection to traditional maritime activity.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Whether maritime law governs can make a real difference. It brings its own rules on product liability, duty to warn, causation and damages, which may be better or worse for a plaintiff than state law. For example, in Air and Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries (2019), the Supreme Court held that under maritime law a manufacturer can have a duty to warn when its product requires asbestos parts to function as intended, narrowing the bare metal defense in maritime cases. Many asbestos cases involve both sea and land exposure, so courts must decide which law applies to each. Seamen may also have claims under the Jones Act and for unseaworthiness, and shipyard workers may be covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. Navy veterans' claims against equipment makers often fall under maritime law.

Example Sentence

Because the veteran's exposure occurred while serving aboard a destroyer at sea, the court applied general maritime law to his claims against the pump manufacturer.

Related Terms

Admiralty Jurisdiction, Jones Act, Unseaworthiness, Bare Metal Defense, Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), Navy Veterans, Shipyard Exposure

Notes

• Tell your lawyer which ships you served on and whether the work was at sea, in port or in a shipyard; the location affects which law applies.
• Service records and ship histories help establish where exposure happened.