Rainbow Management Group, Ltd. v. Atlantis Submarines Hawaii, L.P.
United States District Court for the District of Hawaii
158 F.R.D. 656 (D. Haw. 1994)
After RMG's (plaintiff) boat collided with a moored vessel carrying scuba divers, injuring a passenger who sued both RMG and Atlantis (defendant), Atlantis cross-claimed against RMG for breach of contract, contribution, and indemnity, and RMG cross-claimed back for contribution and indemnity; the parties settled the injury claims, but RMG later filed a separate suit against Atlantis over damage to its own boat, and its motion to consolidate that suit with the original action was denied for delay and prejudice. Atlantis moved for summary judgment in the second suit, arguing RMG's claims were compulsory counterclaims that should have been raised in the original action.
Whether, once a party files a substantive cross-claim against a co-party, the co-party becomes an opposing party for purposes of the compulsory-counterclaim rule under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(a).