What does saving to suitors mean

Since state and federal maritime and admiralty laws differ, different types and amounts of compensation may be available, depending on which laws are applied to a case. Our attorneys are experienced working across state and federal maritime laws and will build a solid case to help you get the compensation you deserve under maritime law. If you would like to find out more about your legal rights after suffering an injury at work, take advantage of our free consultation.

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Need even more definitions? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms The same, but different. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. This means that when a person brings suit under a maritime law issue, the matter will be heard in federal court and federal law will be the applicable law.

This is applicable when both the maritime and state claims stem from the same issue. As mentioned, admiralty law is generally a federal issue heard in federal courts. Nonetheless, the savings to suitors clause places limits with respect to the application of common law torts to the admiralty issues.

A savings to suitors case is called a reverse Erie case. Under the Erie Doctrine , which is a fundamental legal concept in civil procedure, a federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction must apply the laws of the underlying state when hearing state-law claims.

However, even if the case is in federal court, the court will apply the state law, which would likely govern the car accident.

This is the basic function of the Erie Doctrine. The savings to suitors rule goes in reverse. Hence the term savings to suitors. It is called reverse Erie because just like a federal court applies state law during a diversity jurisdiction case heard in that court, a state court applies federal maritime law to the case even though it is a common law tort case.

While the state court can apply state law, it can only apply state law to issues when there is no conflict with federal maritime and admiralty law. The Lawletter Vol 35 No 3, February 11, Matt McDavitt , Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group When parties litigate claims implicating maritime law, an often misunderstood doctrine is the so-called "saving to suitors" rule, deriving from a cryptic phrase appearing in the U. Legal Research.

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