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14 Hous. L. Rev. 287 (1976-1977)
Conflicts Problem between the Longshoremen's Act and State Workemen's Compensation Acts under the 1972 Amendments, The

handle is hein.journals/hulr14 and id is 323 raw text is: VOLUME 14 JAUARY 1977 Ntmimm 2 THE CONFLICTS PROBLEM BETWEEN THE LONGSHOREMEN'S ACT AND STATE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACTS UNDER THE 1972 AMENDMENTS Arthur Larson* The purpose of this article0 is to analyze in a preliminary way the new conflicts problems created by the 1972 amendments to the Long- shoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (Longshoremen's Act).' Indeed, the boundary between state workmen's compensation acts and federal involvement in waterfront injuries has, through the exertions of the Supreme Court and the Congress, undergone a major shift no less than seven times in sixty years. This convoluted and often tedious story need not be retold here,2 although some references to it may be necessary from time to time to make the present position intelligible. The seven phases through which this relationship has passed may at this point be merely identified in a categorical way: Phase I: unqualified federal preeminence in injuries over navigable waters.3 Phase II: the maritime but local excep- tion to the absolute preeminence of federal power.4 Phase III: the passage of the Longshoremen's Act in 1927, containing two limitations: occurrence of the injury upon navigable waters and applicability only if recovery * James B. Duke Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law; B.A, (Jurisp.) 1935, D.C.L. 1957 Oxford University. Under Secretary of Labor 1954-56. 00 Adapted by the author from his current revision of A. LAnso.x, WornmNxs COiMENSATiON LAw, cl. XVI Copyright @ 1976, by Matthew Bender & Co., Inc., and printed with permission. 1. 33 U.S.C.A. §§ 901-50 (Supp. 1976) amending 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-50 (1970). 2. For a complete account of this development, see 4 A. LAnso., TAE LA.w OF WoamEN's ComPENsA nON §§ 89.10-.70 (1976) [hereinafter cited as A. LAnsox; Larson, The Conflict of Laws Problem Between the Longshoremcn's Act and State Workmen's Compensation Acts, 45 S. CAL. L. REv. 699 (1972). 3. Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen, 244 U.S. 205,215-16 (1917). 4. Grant Smith-Porter Ship Co. v. Rohde, 257 U.S. 469, 476 (1922). HOUSTON LAW REVIEW