Healy Tibbitts Construction Co. v. Foremost Insurance Co.

482 F. Supp. 830 (1979)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
H
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Healy Tibbitts Construction Co. v. Foremost Insurance Co.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California
482 F. Supp. 830 (1979)

Facts

Healy Tibbitts Construction Company (Healy) (plaintiff) purchased insurance on several of its vessels from Foremost Insurance Company (Foremost) (defendant). The companies negotiated and signed the insurance contract in California, where Healy had its principal place of business. The contract contained language requiring Healy to give adequate notice to Foremost of any incidents that could lead Foremost to have to pay out a legal claim. The contract also had provisions detailing the two parties’ obligations to each other in the event that a third party sued Healy or Foremost for an incident involving one of the insured vessels. One of the insured vessels sank in an accident at the United States Naval Supply Center. The United States filed several claims against Healy for cleanup costs related to the accident. Healy then filed defense and indemnity claims against Foremost in district court. Foremost argued that the notice provisions should estop Healy from seeking defense and indemnity. The district court was charged with determining which body of law governed interpretation of the contract.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Weigel, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 802,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Admiralty

Key Terms