Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/994/37/271561/
Timestamp: 2020-06-06 02:47:13
Document Index: 684516681

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1291', '§ 1292', '§ 2', '§ 11', '§ 1333', '§ 1', '§ 114', '§ 186']

Southworth Machinery Co., Inc., Plaintiff, Appellee, v. F/v Corey Pride, et al., Defendants, Appellees,all Trawl, Inc. and Robert Anderson, Defendants, Appellants, 994 F.2d 37 (1st Cir. 1993) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › First Circuit › 1993 › Southworth Machinery Co., Inc., Plaintiff, Appellee, v. F/v Corey Pride, et al., Defendants, Appelle...
Southworth Machinery Co., Inc., Plaintiff, Appellee, v. F/v Corey Pride, et al., Defendants, Appellees,all Trawl, Inc. and Robert Anderson, Defendants, Appellants, 994 F.2d 37 (1st Cir. 1993)
US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - 994 F.2d 37 (1st Cir. 1993) Heard Nov. 3, 1992. Decided June 2, 1993
We address at the outset a question concerning our appellate jurisdiction. The judgment entered by the magistrate on January 3, 1992, did not formally dispose of all of the claims against all of the parties. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). Accordingly, this court issued an order to the parties raising the subject of our jurisdiction to consider this appeal. Southworth responded with a motion to dismiss the appeal, contending that the judgment was a nonfinal and hence unappealable order. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Our subsequent review of the record has revealed that certain claims omitted from the January 3 judgment were dismissed prior to trial and others were disposed of in the magistrate judge's written decision. The "separate document" rule does not defeat appellate jurisdiction where a timely appeal is filed and the parties do not suffer any prejudice from the absence of a separate document entering judgment on claims that were clearly disposed of in an earlier order. Smith v. Massachussetts Dep't of Correction, 936 F.2d 1390, 1393-94 (1st Cir. 1991); Smith-Bey v. Hospital Administrator, 841 F.2d 751, 756 (7th Cir. 1988).
The only seemingly unresolved matter that may be of lingering interest to the parties is Southworth's in rem claim against the Corey Pride under a maritime lien. The magistrate judge's opinion did not explicitly address the in rem claim. However, under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a) (3), we have jurisdiction over interlocutory decrees in admiralty cases as long as the order appealed from finally determines the rights and liabilities of the parties on a particular claim or issue. See Martha's Vineyard Scuba Headquarters, Inc. v. Unidentified, Wrecked & Abandoned Steam Vessel, 833 F.2d 1059, 1062-64 (1st Cir. 1987). Since the claims involved in this appeal were conclusively decided by the magistrate judge, we have jurisdiction over them.
It is unclear whether section 11 permits recovery of multiple damages under such a theory where bad faith is proved. Section 9 provides for multiple damages where a demand is refused in bad faith, but section 9 is by its terms inapplicable (see note 2, above) and section 11 has no such counterpart language. Massachusetts case law is murky as to whether the bad faith refusal concept can be read into section 11. Glickman v. Brown, 21 Mass.App.Ct. 229, 238 n. 7, 486 N.E.2d 737, 743 n. 7 (1985), expressly holds that the bad faith response provision "has no application" to claims governed by section 11. On the other hand, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has employed language that may look the other way. International Fidelity Ins. Co. v. Wilson, 387 Mass. 841, 857, 443 N.E.2d 1308, 1318 (1983).
We also affirm the magistrate judge's determination that All Trawl is liable for the unpaid portion of the purchase price of the engine. Because the engine was not damaged by the fire aside from some minor paint peeling, All Trawl decided to keep the engine for use on the Corey Pride. At trial, Anderson testified that the engine was still in use and that he was satisfied with its operation. Under section 2-607 of the Uniform Commercial Code,3 a buyer who accepts goods is liable for the contract price, although the buyer may recover damages resulting from any defect. 4 Anderson, Uniform Commercial Code § 2-607:15 (3d ed. 1983); Micromedia v. Automated Broadcast Controls, 799 F.2d 230, 235-36 (5th Cir. 1986).
The remaining issue concerns attorney's fees under chapter 93A. Prevailing claimants under chapter 93A are ordinarily entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees incurred in connection with the chapter 93A claim. Mass.Gen.L. ch. 93A, § 11. Although finding that Southworth had breached chapter 93A, the magistrate judge declined to award attorney's fees. She reasoned that such an award would conflict with federal maritime law under which the parties pay their own fees absent bad faith or oppressive litigation tactics. See Templeman v. Chris Craft Corp., 770 F.2d 245, 250 (1st Cir.) cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1021, 106 S. Ct. 571, 88 L. Ed. 2d 556 (1985); Goodman v. 1973 26 Foot Trojan Vessel, 859 F.2d 71, 74 (8th Cir. 1988).
Under the "saving to suitors" clause, 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1), claimants in an admiralty case are not restricted to maritime relief but may also pursue remedies provided by state law. E.g., Ellenwood v. Exxon Shipping Co., 984 F.2d 1270, 1279 (1st Cir. 1993). However, "the extent to which state law may be used to remedy maritime injuries is constrained by a so-called 'reverse-Erie' doctrine which requires that the substantive remedies afforded by the States conform to governing federal maritime standards." Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire, 477 U.S. 207, 223, 106 S. Ct. 2485, 2494, 91 L. Ed. 2d 174 (1986). Thus, where the subject-matter falls within the admiralty jurisdiction, state law may 'supplement' federal maritime law but may not directly contradict it. Gilmore & Black, The Law of Admiralty § 1-17, at 49-50 (2d ed. 1975); Austin v. Unarco Industries, Inc., 705 F.2d 1, 6 n. 1 (1st Cir.), cert. dismissed, 463 U.S. 1247, 104 S. Ct. 34, 77 L. Ed. 2d 1454 (1983).
Pertinently, in Templeman, 770 F.2d at 250, we held that a Puerto Rico rule providing for attorney's fees, although part of the substantive law of the Commonwealth, was inapplicable in an action cognizable in admiralty. This was so, we noted, even though the underlying cause of action was created by Puerto Rico law and federal court jurisdiction happened to be based on diversity. Accord Sosebee v. Rath, 893 F.2d 54 (3d Cir. 1990) (Virgin Islands attorney's fees statute; territorial jurisdiction); 1 Benedict on Admiralty § 114, at n. 2 (1993 Supp.) (approving Sosebee) . See also Carey v. Bahama Cruise Lines, 864 F.2d 201, 206-08 (1st Cir. 1988) (Massachusetts bar to recovery if plaintiff is more than 50% negligent incompatible with admiralty rule that contributory negligence only mitigates damages).
State statutes providing for attorney's fees may sometimes be given effect in admiralty cases, notably, where the attorney's fees are awarded incident to a dispute that is not normally a subject of maritime law. For example, in Pace v. Insurance Company of North America, 838 F.2d 572, 578-79 (1st Cir. 1988), we held that maritime law did not preempt a Rhode Island cause of action allowing recovery of damages and attorney's fees for an insurer's bad faith refusal to pay or settle claims; the refusal to settle claims is normally left untouched by maritime law. More recently, in Ellenwood, we held that admiralty law likewise did not foreclose state claims based upon state handicap discrimination statutes, for maritime law did not address the subject of handicap discrimination. 984 F.2d at 1280.
Turning to the case at hand, Southworth's liability under chapter 93A was not predicated on any ground novel to or unaddressed by maritime law. Rather, Southworth was found liable as a result of its breach of its express warranty for parts and workmanship incident to the repair of a ship, a standard contractual breach to which maritime law has always applied. See Zych v. Unidentified, Wrecked & Abandoned Vessel, 941 F.2d 525, 531 (7th Cir. 1991). The conduct found to violate chapter 93A falls squarely within the focus of existing maritime law, and chapter 93A's attorney's fee provision, being inconsistent with maritime law, cannot be applied in this case.
Although the contract (involving the sale and installation of a rebuilt engine for use on an existing commercial vessel) is maritime in nature and therefore governed by general federal maritime law, 1 Friedell, Benedict on Admiralty §§ 186-87 (7th ed. 1993), the UCC is considered a source for federal admiralty law. Interpool Ltd. v. Char Yigh Marine, S.A., 890 F.2d 1453, 1459 (9th Cir. 1989), amended, 918 F.2d 1476 (9th Cir. 1990); Clem Perrin Marine Towing, Inc. v. Panama Canal Co., 730 F.2d 186, 189 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1037, 105 S. Ct. 515, 83 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1984)