GREAT LAKES RULE
Great Lakes rule.Maritime law. The statutory provision that an admiralty litigant is entitled to
a jury trial in a contract or tort action if the lawsuit arises from the operation of a commercial
vessel on the Great Lakes or the navigable waters connecting them. See 28 USCA § 1873. [Cases:
Admiralty 80. C.J.S. Admiralty §§ 216–218.]
“The most important distinction between the law and admiralty ‘sides’ of federal court is that
trial by jury is guaranteed for law claims through the Seventh Amendment, but where the case is
maintained as an admiralty claim the litigant has neither constitutional nor statutory right to a jury
trial. The one exception is the ‘Great Lakes Rule’ ….” Frank L. Maraist, Admiralty in a Nutshell
338 (2d ed. 1988). [Blacks Law 8th]