Acadia Insurance Company v. Michael McNeil George McNeil

144 F.3d 881, 1999 A.M.C. 541, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 12965, 1998 WL 303500

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: June 16, 1998
• Docket: 96-2240
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This appeal arises out of a dispute over the applicability of a state statute, N.H.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 412:2(11) (Supp.1997), to an insurance policy issued by the appellant, Acadia Insurance Company. In an earlier opinion, we reviewed the background of the dispute and chronicled the proceedings below. See Acadia Ins. Co. v. McNeil, 116 F.3d 599, 600-01 (1st Cir.1997). Then, applying principles of federal law, we classified the Acadia policy as a policy of ocean marine insurance. See id. at 601-03. Finally, we certified to the New Hampshire Supreme Court the following question:

Does N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 412:2(11) apply to the liability component of an ocean marine insurance policy issued in New Hampshire?

Id. at 605.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court now has responded to our inquiry, answering the certified question in the affirmative. See Acadia Ins. Co. v. McNeil, 711 A.2d 873 (N.H.1998). Because this opinion appears to be dispositive of the case at hand, we issued a show-cause order inviting the parties “to show cause (if any there be) ... why this court should not enter an order summarily affirming the decision below.” The time stipulated in our show-cause order has expired. Since no cause has been shown, we summarily affirm the judgment of the district court.

Affirmed. Costs to appellees.