Recent years have seen recurring discussion of whether federal courts sitting on Admiralty cases should apply federal common law or the common law that would be applied in the state in which they sit. A growing number of legal scholars have argued that consistent with the Erie doctrine, state common law should apply, but the Supreme Court precedents, stressing the importance of uniformity in the law applicable to admiralty and maritime cases, continue to uphold the principle that judge-made law in these cases must be federal law. The question raises some basic issues regarding the nature of judge-made (or judge-found) law in the United States that have broader implications than just for Admiralty and Maritime cases. The panel will explore these issues by considering the original meaning of the grant of Admiralty and Maritime jurisdiction to federal courts as well as the more than 200 years of judicial construction of that grant as shedding light on the proper role of federal and state courts in crafting and applying Admiralty and Maritime law.
Business Meeting at Program Conclusion.