American Renovation & Construction Co. v. United States

65 Fed. Cl. 254, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 116, 2005 WL 1023511
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedApril 28, 2005
DocketNo. 03-1798C
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 65 Fed. Cl. 254 (American Renovation & Construction Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Renovation & Construction Co. v. United States, 65 Fed. Cl. 254, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 116, 2005 WL 1023511 (uscfc 2005).

Opinion

ORDER AND OPINION

DAMICH, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Classical Financial Services’ Motion to Intervene as Plaintiff in this case. Both Plaintiff and Defendant have filed responses opposing the motion. Because Classical Financial Services meets the requirements for intervention as a matter of right under Rule 24 of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims, the motion is GRANTED.

I. Background

On July 28, 2003, American Renovation and Construction Company (“Plaintiff’), a government contractor, filed a complaint against the United States (“Defendant”) for breach of contract and wrongful termination under the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 601 — 613, and the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491. The contract at issue in this case, Contract Number F08602-99-CK006 (hereinafter referred to as “the CK006 Contract”) was entered into by Plaintiff and Defendant on March 31,1999. On April 20,1999, pursuant to terms of the CK006 Contract, the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (“Surety” or “St. Paul”) executed performance and payment bonds. Classical Financial Services (“Intervenor-Applieant”) seeks to intervene as Plaintiff in this case because it alleges that: (1) it is the assignee of the CK006 Contract; (2) it holds a security interest in Plaintiffs claims asserted herein and any and all proceeds thereof; and (3) it recently was awarded a judgment against Plaintiff in the amount of $17 million.

On or about July 15, 1996, almost three years prior to the execution of the CK006 Contract, Plaintiff and Intervenor-Applieant entered into a written loan agreement (hereinafter referred to as “the Loan Agreement”) by which Intervenor-Applieant agreed to extend funds to Plaintiff to help finance construction projects undertaken by Plaintiff. Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, Interve-nor-Applicant advanced funds to Plaintiff, and Plaintiff executed and delivered a series of promissory notes demonstrating Plaintiffs indebtedness to Intervenor-Applieant. To secure the obligations under the loan agreement and the promissory notes, Plaintiff executed an Assignment and Security Agreement (“A & S Agreement”) which granted Intervenor-Applieant a security interest in all proceeds under certain contracts (not including the CK006 Contract, because the CK006 Contract did not yet exist) and all “general intangibles” including “all causes of action.” On or about September 16, 1999, Plaintiff, seeking to receive additional funding from Intervenor-Applieant, executed an Instrument of Assignment which purported to assign to Intervenor-Applieant all of its [257]*257right, title and interest to all payments and proceeds owing from the government under the CK006 Contract.

Sometime in early 2000, Plaintiff defaulted on its various loans, and as a result, Interve-nor-Applicant filed suit against Plaintiff seeking damages for the amount owed on the Loan Agreement and Promissory Notes. On August 31, 2004, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia awarded judgment in favor of Intervenor-Applicant and against Plaintiff in the amount of $17 million. Plaintiff has ceased operations, and its sole remaining asset appears to be the proceeds of the claim pending against the government in this case. Intervenor-Applicant seeks to intervene as a matter of right pursuant to Rule 24(a)(2) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”), or, in the alternative, it asks for permissive intervention under RCFC 24(b).

II. Intervention Generally

The parties do not dispute the method of analysis that the Court should employ in deciding whether Intervenor-Applieant may intervene in this case — and the Court concurs. The method of analysis begins with the text of RCFC 24. RCFC 24 provides for two types of intervention. RCFC 24(a) provides for intervention as of right and RCFC 24(b) provides for permissive intervention.1 Under both RCFC 24(a) and 24(b), a party’s application for intervention must be “timely.” To intervene as a matter of right, in addition to the text of Rule 24(a), the method of analysis includes the three-part test formulated by the U,S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in American Maritime Transport, Inc. v. United States. In construing the text of the Rule, the Federal Circuit in that case required that the applicant have: “[1] an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and [2] he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, [3] unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.” Am. Mar. Transp., Inc. v. United States, 870 F.2d 1559, 1560 (Fed.Cir.1989). Permissive intervention may be granted in the court’s sound discretion “when an applicant’s claim or defense and the main action have a question of law or fact in common ... [in consideration of] whether the intervention will unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties.” RCFC 24(b)(2).

The general principle to be kept in mind in employing the method of analysis, as stated by the Federal Circuit, is that “the requirements for intervention are to be construed in favor of intervention.” Am. Mar. Transp., Inc., 870 F.2d at 1561. Similarly, a number of other circuits have held that Rule 24 is to be construed liberally. StupakrThrall v. Glickman, 226 F.3d 467, 472 (6th Cir.2000) (Fed.R.Civ.P. 24 is to be broadly construed in favor of prospective intervenor); United States v. Union Elec. Co., 64 F.3d 1152, 1158 (8th Cir.1995) (Fed.R.Civ.P. 24 is to be construed liberally, and doubts resolved in favor of proposed intervenor); Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. Berg, 268 F.3d 810, 818 (9th Cir.2001) (Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a) construed liberally in favor of intervenors); Federal Savings & Loan v. Falls Chase Special Taxing Dist., 983 F.2d 211, 216 (11th Cir.1993) (any doubts concerning propriety of allowing intervention should be resolved in favor of proposed intervenor because intervention allows the court to resolve related disputes in single action).

[258]*258Generally, courts will accept as true all well-pleaded, noneonclusory allegations in the motion to intervene, in the proposed complaint or answer in intervention, and in declarations supporting the motion, absent sham, frivolity, or other objections. See Mendenhall v. M/V Toyota Maru No. 11, 551 F.2d 55, 56 n. 2 (5th Cir.1977); Reich v.. ABC/ York-Estes Corp., 64 F.3d 316, 321 (7th Cir. 1995); Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. Berg, 268 F.3d 810, 819-820 (9th Cir.2001); see also

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Bluebook (online)
65 Fed. Cl. 254, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 116, 2005 WL 1023511, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-renovation-construction-co-v-united-states-uscfc-2005.