Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance v. Bax Global Inc.

MEMORANDUM **

Hitachi Data Systems Corp. and its insurer, Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (collectively, “Hitachi”), brought suit against Bax Global Inc. (“Bax”) after Bax transferred Hitachi’s cargo from Plainfield, Indiana to Hong Kong, China, under a waybill dated April 5, 2001. Some of the cargo was irreparably damaged during shipment.

After a one-day bench trial, the district court concluded that the shipment was governed by the Warsaw Convention. The district court further concluded that because the waybill did not comply with the *548 requirements of Articles 8 and 9 of the Warsaw Convention, Bax was not entitled to the Convention’s limitation on liability.

Hitachi argued that it was entitled to attorney’s fees. Paragraph 16 of the waybill provided that “the shipper, consignee, and owner jointly and severally agree to pay all legal and collection fees incurred by Bax Global in securing payment for all charges related to the shipment or enforcing any portion of this contract.” Hitachi argued that California Civil Code § 1717 rendered paragraph 16 reciprocal. The district court rejected this argument, concluding that the issue was governed by federal law, which…