Harry Byrne, a Duane Morris LLP partner who represents transportation companies, said he expects freight brokers to eschew more questionable carriers in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.

"I do think that there's going to be some type of flight to larger carriers," he said. "The reality is most brokers have good practices in place in terms of reviewing motor carriers through their hiring."

Freight brokers should also revisit their practices for carrier vetting and selection and consider tweaking their processes, he said.

"There are very smart, sophisticated lawyers in the plaintiffs bar who will look to make effective use of this decision, and I think brokers need to be prepared to respond in kind and think creatively about developing processes that will be best suited to withstand scrutiny in the state courts," he said.

In addition, Byrne said it remains to be determined what the "reasonable" standard will be for freight brokers in selecting carriers.

"The ruling doesn't mean that every broker is exposed or is going to be subject to liability whenever a carrier has an accident," he said. "There was consensus among the justices and the parties that if a broker acts reasonably in arranging transportation with a reputable company, then they have a good defense or successful defense."

He added, "The devil will be in the details going forward, and there's now going to be questions about the scope of any state law duty and what the state courts consider reasonable and where to draw the line. There are questions that need to be answered, and I expect they'll be pretty vigorously litigated in all 50 states going forward."

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