Otis Felder (Partner-Los Angeles, CA) secured a series of decisive victories for a San Diego rental company client before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The case arose from a fatal allision between two rented jet skis in navigable waters, which led to the death of one of the operators. Claimants filed wrongful death, survival, and personal injury claims alleging negligence and gross negligence against the rental company. The court granted summary judgment, dismissed all claims against the client based on the liability waiver and the renter’s conduct, and exonerated the company. Building on this exoneration, Wilson Elser then pursued and obtained a judgment on damages against the renter responsible for the collision. In September 2026, the court awarded $450,965.88 in damages, including attorney's fees and costs incurred in defending the action, along with prejudgment interest. The court also awarded post-judgment interest of $47.53 per day until the judgment is satisfied. The court's ruling distinguished between waiver and indemnity. It held that the latter entitled recovery of covered losses from use of the rented watercraft, attorney's fees for enforcing the contract, and the cost of pursuing indemnification rights, finding all enforceable under federal maritime contract law and squarely supporting the award. 

This outcome represents a comprehensive victory for the firm’s client: full exoneration from liability in a multimillion-dollar wrongful death case on superseding cause grounds, followed by recovery of substantially all defense costs through contractual indemnification, underscoring the critical importance of well-drafted indemnification provisions in maritime rental agreements.