Pacific Fisheries Corp. v. HIH Casualty & General Insurance, Ltd.

The Pacific Fisheries Corp. (“Fisheries”) appeals the district court’s judgment following bench trial and denial of Fisheries’ motion for a new trial in its diversity action against HIH Casualty & General Insurance and HIH Marine Insurance Companies (“The Insurers”). Fisheries alleges that the court erred in denying its untimely demand for a jury trial. Fisheries also contends that because the breach of the trading warranty contained in the marine insurance policies did not itself cause the loss, its losses should have been covered.

Because the district court properly denied the untimely jury demand and correctly found that the insurance policies were voided by breach of the trading warranty, we affirm,

BACKGROUND

The Appellant, Fisheries, operates a fishing vessel called the Icy Point. The Icy Point embarked on a fishing excursion in the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco on February 17, 1997. On March 11, 1997, Fisheries purchased insurance coverage from The Insurers under two policies: a Protection and Indemnity Policy (“P & I”) and a Hull and Machinery Policy (“Hull”). Each of these policies contained an identical trading warranty which provided that Fisheries’ insured vessel…