In re City of New York

522 F.3d 279 (2008)

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

In re City of New York

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
522 F.3d 279 (2008)

Facts

The City of New York (city) (defendant) owned and operated several passenger ferries. The ferries carried passengers free of charge between the northern shore of Staten Island and the southern tip of Manhattan, and each ferry could carry up to 6,000 passengers at a time. The city had a rule requiring both a ferry’s “captain and assistant captain to be together in the operating pilot house” while the ferry was traveling. However, this two-pilot rule was not enforced, a fact that Patrick Ryan, the city’s director of ferry operations, was aware of. On October 15, 2003, a ferry was transporting commuters from Manhattan. Richard Smith, the ferry’s assistant captain, was piloting the ship while the captain was elsewhere on the ferry preparing for an inspection, in violation of the two-pilot rule. Another employee was in the pilot house with Smith but was not assigned to or performing any duties there. As the ferry approached Staten Island, Smith became suddenly incapacitated. The ferry crashed into a pier at full speed, resulting in 11 fatalities and dozens of injuries. Hundreds of claimants (plaintiffs) sued the city in district court. The city petitioned the court for a ruling limiting its liability under the Limitation of Liability Act. The district court denied the city’s petition, and the city appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Katzmann, 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 802,000 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 802,000 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 802,000 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

Related Videos