Otis Felder (Partner-Los Angeles, CA) and Vladyslava Turner (Associate-Los Angeles, CA) secured summary judgment and exoneration for a jet ski rental company before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. This significant victory stems from a wrongful death, survival and personal injury case resulting from an allision involving a rental jet ski operator and another jet ski, ultimately leading to the death one of the operators. In this case, the rental company initiated proceedings in federal court, seeking either exoneration or limitation of its liability to the value of the jet ski. Notably, the court ruled that as the case fell under its admiralty jurisdiction, federal general maritime law governed, and California state law could not supplement the issue of whether the renters had a contractual duty to defend the rental company. The court's decision highlighted that under admiralty law, the claimants failed to provide evidence supporting a claim for negligent entrustment, demonstrating that the rental company knew or should have known that one of the renters would recklessly use the rented jet ski contrary to their experience. The ruling also emphasized that the rental company was not required to warn of the evident dangers of operating a jet ski. Additionally, the court deemed the renters' intentional actions as a superseding cause, as their reckless operation, violation of navigation rules and terms of the rental agreement were unforeseeable as a matter of law. While the court exonerated the rental company from liability, it acknowledged that there were existing factual issues regarding whether the company would be entitled to indemnification for its defense expenses.