New York Marine & General Ins., et al. v. Continental Cement Co., et al., No. 13-2313 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseStarr Indemnity filed suit seeking a determination of their rights and obligations under Continental Cement's insurance policies after the Mark Twain, a cement barge owned by Continental Cement, sank in the Mississippi River. Continental Cement counterclaimed for breach of contract and vexatious refusal to pay under Missouri law. Determining that Continental Cement did not waive its appeal, the court concluded that the district court did not err by applying the federal doctrine of utmost good faith, a judicially established federal admiralty rule, instead of Missouri state law; Continental Cement waived its appeal of the denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law on Starr Indemnity's utmost good faith defense; and, apart from the issue of waiver, the district court did not abuse its discretion in submitting the utmost good faith instruction. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil case - Insurance. In this action to determine coverage for a sunken barge where the insurer denied coverage on the ground the insured had failed to disclose the condition of the barge as required by the insured's duty to exercise the utmost good faith, the district court did not err in determining that the doctrine of utmost good faith is such a judicially established federal admiralty rule that it applied to this maritime insurance dispute rather than Missouri state law; defendant waived its appeal of the denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law on the insurer's utmost good faith defense by failing to file a postverdict motion under Rule 50(b) after the district court denied its Rule 50(a) motion; assuming defendant did not waive its challenge to the jury instruction on the defense of utmost good faith, the instruction adequately and fairly presented the issues, including the question of whether the undisclosed facts were material to calculation of the risk and the terms of the coverage.
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