Opinion ID: 3009823
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Hyundai Action

Text: Following the decision in Atlantic Mutual, Burlington, having already denied Hyundai’s claim for indemnity in connection with the shipment of furnace equipment on several occasions, instituted this action on April 1, 1993, in the District Court for the District of New Jersey, seeking a declaratory judgment 7 that Hyundai had no timely claim against Burlington. In response, Hyundai filed a counterclaim seeking the $104,079.49 from Burlington in indemnity, and moved to transfer both actions to either the Central District of California or the Western District of Washington pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), given that none of the facts in the present case or the underlying action occurred in New Jersey and that neither of the parties is incorporated or has a principal place of business in New Jersey. Burlington responded by moving for summary judgment on its declaratory judgment action. Hyundai opposed this motion on the grounds that (1) Burlington was estopped from relitigating the issues decided in Atlantic Mutual and (2) that, on the merits, Hyundai’s indemnity claim was timely presented. The district court rejected both of these arguments, granted Burlington’s request for summary judgment in the declaratory judgment action, dismissed Hyundai’s counterclaim, and denied as moot Hyundai’s motion to transfer the case. In rejecting Hyundai’s estoppel argument, the district court held: The Court interprets the Atlantic Mutual decision as involving a pure question of law, decided under the law of another Circuit, and therefore will not accord it issue-preclusive effect. Dist Op. at 8. This appeal followed. Since the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment rested on a legal determination of when issue preclusion should apply to unmixed questions of law, our review is plenary. In reviewing the district court’s decision, we apply federal common law principles of issue preclusion since we are 8 examining the issue preclusive effect of a prior federal court action. See NLRB v. Yellow Freight Sys., Inc., 930 F.2d 316, 320 (3d Cir. 1991); Hicks v. Quaker Oats Co., 662 F.2d 1158, 1166 (5th Cir. 1981).