Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, 601 U.S. 65 (2024), is a United States Supreme Court case regarding federal admiralty law.
The investigation revealed that the fire extinguishers on the yacht had not been inspected or recertified, in violation of the insurance policy.
[2] Great Lakes sought a judgment in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that it was entitled to deny coverage to Raiders.
Great Lakes moved for a judgment with respect to the Pennsylvania claims, arguing that they were inapplicable due to the choice-of-law clause.
While conceding that their Pennsylvania counterclaims would not be cognizable under New York law, Raiders argued that the clause should be deemed unenforceable under Pennsylvania's "strong public policy" of punishing insurance providers who deny coverage in bad faith.
In a decision issued on February 21, 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously held that choice-of-law provisions in maritime contracts are presumptively enforceable under federal maritime law, and that while narrow exceptions do exist, they were not applicable in this case.