Notre Dame Law Review Volume 36 | Issue 2 Article 10 3-1-1961 Recent Decisions Ralph H. Witt Raymond Brown Thomas A. McNish Daniel J. Manelli Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Ralph H. Witt, Raymond Brown, Thomas A. McNish & Daniel J. Manelli, Recent Decisions, 36 Notre Dame L. Rev. 202 (1961). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol36/iss2/10 This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. RECENT DECISIONS CARRIERS - INTERSTATE COMMERCE - No LIMITATION OF LiABILITy PossBI. WHEN GOODS ARE PREcious METALS, EVEN THOUGH SHIPPER UNDERSTATES VALUE. - Defendant, the Railway Express Agency, lost a 50-pound shipment of raw platinum, of declared value $50. Shipper, in a suit for actual value, contended that the limitation of liability to declared value included in defendant carrier's standard express receipt was inoperative to limit shipper's recovery to $50, even though his agent had intentionally misstated the value, knowing that the shipment was actually worth over $56,000. The Appellate Division" indorsed the shipper's contention by modifying the trial court's 2 $50 verdict for the shipper. The Court of Appeals affirmed the modified judgment, awarding the shipper the full value of the shipment. Held: a special contract limiting a carrier's liability for loss or damage caused by it to goods shipped in interstate commerce is invalid to reduce shipper's recovery to agreed amount, less than the actual value of the goods, where the limitation is not based on the shipper's choice between a rate for full value liability and a lower rate for limited liability.