Opinion
CASE NO.: 09-20763-CIV-HUCK/O'SULLIVAN.
June 4, 2009
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO STRIKE DEFENDANT'S JURY DEMAND
THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Defendant's Jury Demand, filed April 30, 2009 [D.E. #10]. The Plaintiff, Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC filed a declaratory relief action against its insured Artmania Brazil, to determine coverage under a marine insurance policy for loss sustained as a result of the partial sinking of the vessel "M/V Cayote III." The Complaint was filed under the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the Court, 28 U.S.C. § 1333, and brought pursuant to Rule 9(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Supplemental Rules governing admiralty and maritime claims. (Compl. 1.) The Defendant filed a counterclaim alleging that the Plaintiff breached the same marine insurance contract by refusing to pay the Defendant's claim and demanding a jury trial on its counterclaim. The Plaintiff subsequently filed its Motion to Strike that jury demand.
The law in the Eleventh Circuit is well-settled that where a plaintiff chooses to proceed in admiralty under Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(h), a defendant does not have a right to a jury trial on a counterclaim that arises out of the same operative facts that gave rise to the complaint. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. Lago Canyon, Inc., 561 F. 3d 1181, 1189 (11th Cir. 2009). Here, the Defendant's counterclaim arises out of the same marine insurance contract that is the basis of the complaint and the Defendant therefore has no right to a jury trial on its counterclaim. Accordingly, the Court having consider the Motion, the opposition and being otherwise duly advised in the premises, it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion to Strike Defendant's Jury Demand is GRANTED.
DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida.