Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance Co. v. Fritz Companies, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
210 F.3d 1099 (2000)
After a disk drive shipped by Hitachi (whose insurer, Nissan Fire & Marine, was plaintiff) was damaged en route to Argentina, the shipping contract required written notice of damage within seven days. Fritz (defendant) argued only that it never received timely notice, while Tower (defendant) submitted evidence that Hitachi's claimed notice recipient, Laser Cargo, was never actually Tower's agent. The district court granted summary judgment to both Fritz and Tower, and Hitachi's insurer appealed.
Whether a party moving for summary judgment who does not bear the burden of persuasion at trial can satisfy its burden of production either by presenting evidence disproving an element of the nonmoving party's claim or by showing the nonmoving party lacks sufficient evidence to meet its trial burden.