Florida Federal Court recognizes Federal Admiralty Rule of Strict Enforcement of Warranties in Marine Insurance Preempts State Law

We are pleased to present a decision in which we prevailed from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The ruling is significant for its holding that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals [encompassing the US Southeast including Florida] recognizes an established Federal Admiralty rule of law that warranties in marine insurance are to be strictly enforced. The ruling clarifies a number of inconsistent decisions in Florida holding that only navigational limits warranties were entitled to strict enforcement, and that the Florida Anti-Technical statute otherwise applied. The primary distinction is that the strict enforcement of a warranty excuses the policy from responding in the event of a violation independent of a causal relationship between the violation and the claimed loss, whereas  many states’ laws, such as Florida’s Anti-Technical Statute, require the insurer to prove a causal relationship between the violation and the claimed loss to deny a claim.

Duane Morris Partner Paul Killion Appointed Chair of California State Bar’s Committee on Appellate Courts

Duane Morris partner Paul J. Killion of the firm’s San Francisco office has recently been appointed chair of the California State Bar’s Committee on Appellate Courts for the term commencing at the close of the 2015 State Bar Annual Meeting on October 11, 2015.

Killion is a Certified Appellate Specialist and practices in the area of complex civil litigation. He has argued or briefed over 100 appellate matters, including appeals, writs, petitions for review, merits briefing and amicus curiae briefing. He has handled a variety of litigation and appeals, including significant national experience in asbestos, pollution, toxic tort insurance coverage litigation and large personal injury claims. He has a broad range of appellate experience, with a particular focus on appeals from complex jury trials. Killion has appeared before all Districts of the California Courts of Appeal and before the California Supreme Court, as well as the Ninth and Tenth Circuits and the Supreme Courts of Washington and Oregon. He also represents clients as amici counsel in the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal.

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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