In the United States v. Reliable Transfer Co., Inc. case of 1974, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that when more than one party is at fault for a maritime accident, liability should be divided proportionally based on each party's level of fault. This decision overruled The Pennsylvania rule from 1854 which stated that if a ship was in any violation at the time of an incident, it would be held fully liable unless it could prove that its violation did not contribute to the accident. In this particular case, Reliable Transfer’s vessel ran aground and was damaged due to incorrect navigational information provided by both its own crew and a government-provided pilot boat service (United States). The court decided in favor of Reliable Transfer Co., holding that damages should be allocated between parties according to their comparative degree of fault.

In the case of United States v. Reliable Transfer Co., Inc., there was no dissenting opinion recorded as the decision was unanimous. The Supreme Court ruled that when more than one party is at fault for a maritime accident, liability should be divided proportionally according to each party's level of blame rather than being split equally between them. This ruling overturned the previous "equal division" rule established in 1942 by another Supreme Court case, The Schooner Catharine v. Dickinson, and brought U.S law into closer alignment with international maritime law.