Ballard Shipping Co. v. Beach Shellfish

32 F.3d 623, 1994 AMC 2705 (1994)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
B
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Ballard Shipping Co. v. Beach Shellfish

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
32 F.3d 623, 1994 AMC 2705 (1994)

CS

Facts

An oil tanker owned by Ballard Shipping Co. (Ballard) (plaintiff) ran aground in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, spilling 300,000 gallons of oil into the bay. One of the results of the accident was the pollution of the bay’s shellfish grounds, which necessitated stopping all shellfishing activities for two weeks. Numerous civil and criminal suits arose from the accident. Ballard filed a petition in federal district court under admiralty jurisdiction seeking to limit its liability. Beach Shellfish (claimant), a group of shellfish dealers whose businesses were harmed by the accident, asserted claims for purely economic losses against Ballard in that admiralty action. Beach Shellfish brought both federal claims for negligence under general maritime law and state claims under a Rhode Island statute that allowed compensation for economic losses from oil spills. The district court dismissed Beach Shellfish’s federal claims based on the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint and held that the state claims were preempted by Robins and must therefore also be dismissed. Beach Shellfish appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Boudin, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Admiralty

Key Terms