Article by Howard M. McCormack
If there were any recent doubt whether maritime law included products liability, the Supreme Court's unanimous holding in East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval, Inc. erased it: ‘We join the Courts of Appeals in recognizing products liability, including strict liability, as part of the general maritime law.’ The Court's belated recognition, however, did not herald an expansion of the doctrine. The decision will no doubt come to stand less for the acceptance of products liability into maritime law and more for the re-affirmance of the viability of the contract action in warranty, at least in a commercial context. Accordingly, the law of warranty will become a topic of increasing importance despite its recent deemphasis in favor of strict liability under the Restatement (Second) of Torts. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and explore the law concerning warranties and disclaimers in maritime matters as it affects concepts of product liability.
About the Author
Howard M. McCormack. Partner, Healy & Baillie, New York, New York. A.B., College of the Holy Cross, 1954; L.L.B., Fordham University, 1961; L.L.M., New York University, 1965.
Citation
62 Tul. L. Rev. 549 (1988)