## Facts

- Scientific Games, Inc. contracted with a Colombian governmental entity (Ecosalud) to create and manage a national instant lottery in Colombia.
- Ecosalud required Scientific to obtain a performance bond securing its obligations under the lottery contract; Seguros del Estado, S.A. issued the bond payable to Ecosalud.
- Scientific and Seguros also executed an indemnification agreement requiring Scientific to reimburse Seguros for amounts Seguros paid to Ecosalud under the bond, plus interest.
- Ecosalud declared Scientific in breach, terminated the lottery contract, and imposed a monetary penalty.
- Seguros paid Ecosalud $2.4 million under the bond and sought reimbursement from Scientific under the indemnification agreement; Scientific did not pay.
- Scientific pursued related challenges in Colombian courts concerning Ecosalud’s termination and penalty.
- Seguros sued Scientific in the Northern District of Georgia for indemnification; the district court denied dismissal, granted summary judgment for Seguros, and awarded $2.4 million plus prejudgment interest calculated at 38.76% per year (totaling roughly $7 million).

## Issues

1. Whether international comity and lis alibi pendens required dismissal or a stay due to related litigation pending in Colombia.
2. Whether Seguros’ indemnity action was barred by a Colombian two-year limitations period applicable to insurance disputes.
3. Whether summary judgment was improper due to genuine disputes of material fact about the bond and indemnity terms, the validity of Seguros’ payment, and the reasonableness of Seguros’ resolution with Ecosalud.
4. Whether the district court properly calculated prejudgment interest at 38.76% per annum under Colombian law.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed denial of dismissal/stay based on international comity and lis alibi pendens because the foreign litigation was not sufficiently parallel to the U.S. indemnity dispute (Seguros vs. Scientific), and Ecosalud was not a party to the U.S. case.
- The court affirmed rejection of the statute-of-limitations defense under Colombian law and held the indemnity claim was timely.
- The court affirmed summary judgment for Seguros on liability and affirmed the $2.4 million principal award, concluding no material fact disputes precluded enforcement of the indemnification agreement.
- The court vacated the prejudgment interest portion of the judgment and remanded for further proceedings on the interest calculation.

## Legal Principles

- A federal court may, as a matter of international comity, decline jurisdiction in favor of a foreign proceeding only when the actions are sufficiently parallel; lis alibi pendens does not bar an indemnification action where the foreign case concerns the underlying dispute and does not involve the alleged indemnitor.
- Determination of foreign law is treated as a question of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 44.1 and is reviewed de novo on appeal.
- Summary judgment is appropriate to enforce an indemnification agreement when the governing documents and undisputed payment under the bond establish the indemnitor’s reimbursement obligation.
- Prejudgment interest based on foreign law requires an adequately supported rate and method of calculation; unsupported or inadequately justified calculations warrant vacatur and remand.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit held that Seguros could pursue indemnification in federal court despite related Colombian litigation and that the claim was timely, affirming liability and the $2.4 million principal award, but vacated and remanded the prejudgment interest award for recalculation consistent with a properly supported application of Colombian law.


Seguros del Estado, S.A. v. Scientific Games, Inc., 262 F.3d 1164 (11th Cir. 2001)