The Death of the Common Law: Judicial Abdication and Contributory Negligence in Maryland

Donald G. Gifford

A generation ago, singer-songwriter Don McLean sang of “The Day the Music Died.” This summer, for many victims of negligently inflicted injuries, July 9, 2013, marked the day that the common law process in Maryland died. In Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia, the Court of Appeals of Maryland denied recovery to a twenty-year old volunteer soccer coach who sustained multiple, severe facial fractures when, in a moment of youthful exuberance, he jumped up and grabbed the crossbar of a soccer goal as so many before him have done. The jury found the defendant was negligent in failing to properly inspect the goal, but it also found that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent. The Court of Appeals applied the ancient doctrine of contributory negligence, a rule followed by only three other states and the District of Columbia, to totally bar the plaintiff’s recovery. In this article, I examine the Court of Appeals’ rationale for its decision in Coleman and contend that the court failed to fulfill its obligations as Maryland’s highest common law court.