Randall D. Schmidt on How the Chicago Loop Flood of 1992 Led to a Landmark Admiralty Law Case

STEINBERG: 25 years on, the soggy story of the Loop Flood lingers

The company tried to push the lawsuits it faced into Admiralty Court — an arcane jurisdiction where its liability would be limited to the cost of the barge and the tug that maneuvered it. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawrence E. Rosenthal, a deputy corporation counsel for the city, argued that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock was asking the justices “to bring admiralty law into the basement of Marshall Field’s.”

Seven justices felt that’s exactly where it belonged. And the company ended up escaping liability.

The case of “Jerome B. Grubert v. Great Lakes Dock & Dredge” became a landmark ruling, featured in textbooks and classrooms.

“It’s a very important case,” says Randall Schmidt, a University of Chicago Law School professor. “What Grubart did is, basically, clarified what’s required for admiralty jurisdiction. It still provides the basic framework in tort cases.”

Schmidt spends two weeks each semester in class on Grubert.

“It’s a very bizarre case,” he says. “If I were an admiralty law professor making up exam questions, this would a perfect exam question.”

Read more at Chicago Sun-Times