Legal Research At Sea

Many law students will never take a class on admiralty and maritime law, but it is a complex and specialized area of law which presents some research challenges. Not to be confused with law of the sea (focused on broader public international law issues), admiralty and maritime law focuses on commercial activity or navigation at sea. Developed not from the common-law tradition but from historical customs related to shipping, admiralty and maritime law has a long history, a unique terminology, and many dedicated resources. Fortunately, there are several research guides to help you navigate these unfamiliar waters.

The brand-new Admiralty and Maritime Law: A Legal Research Guide (KF1096 .T63 2017) will point readers to relevant primary and secondary resources. Additional help can be found in Chapter 7 of Specialized Legal Research, 2d ed. 2014 (Ref Desk KF240 .S642), which is devoted to Admiralty and Maritime Law resources.

Key secondary sources which are available to the Duke Law community include:

• Benedict on Admiralty (online in Lexis Advance; library's print copy no longer updated): a leading multi-volume treatise on all aspects of admiralty and maritime law. Volume 10 is dedicated to legal issues related to cruise ships, including injuries to passengers, gaming regulations, and at-sea medical malpractice claims.
• The Law of Seamen (5th ed., online in Westlaw): focuses more on the maritime law rights of merchant seamen, including labor and employment concerns, criminal procedure, determination of a ship's seaworthiness, and even "Loss of clothing and personal effects."

Admiralty and maritime content can also be found in chapters of the American Jurisprudence 2d encyclopedia (on Westlaw, Lexis, and campus-wide in LexisNexis Academic, and in the federal practice treatises Moore's Federal Practice (Practice & Procedure KF8840 .M663 & online in Lexis Advance) and Wright & Miller's Federal Practice and Procedure (Practice & Procedure KF9619 .W7 2008 4th & online in Westlaw).

For more help with locating admiralty and maritime law resources, search the Duke Libraries Catalog for the subject heading "Maritime law - - United States" or Ask a Librarian.