RAINBOW MANAGEMENT GROUP, LTD., Plaintiff, vs. ATLANTIS SUBMARINES HAWAII, L.P., Defendant., 158 F.R.D. 656

Summary

The prior litigation involved a plaintiff who suffered personal injuries in the collision of the two vessels. The company and the submarine owner were co-defendants in that case. In that litigation the submarine owner filed a cross-claim against the company for breach of contract, contribution, and indemnity. The company filed a cross-claim against the submarine owner for contribution and indemnity. The cross-claim did not assert a claim for damage to the company's vessel. The court granted the motion for summary judgment establishing the rule that co-parties become opposing parties within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(a) after one such party pleads an initial cross-claim against the other and that cross-claim includes a substantive claim. The cross-claim filed by the submarine owner contained a substantive claim against the company for breach of contract. The company and the submarine owner thus became opposing parties and the company was required to plead any substantive claim it...