Bank of Camilla v. St. Paul Mercury Insurance

939 F. Supp. 2d 1299, 2013 WL 1333519, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45017
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 29, 2013
DocketCase No. 1:12-CV-15 (WLS)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 939 F. Supp. 2d 1299 (Bank of Camilla v. St. Paul Mercury Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bank of Camilla v. St. Paul Mercury Insurance, 939 F. Supp. 2d 1299, 2013 WL 1333519, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45017 (M.D. Ga. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

W. LOUIS SANDS, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 13), Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 15), and Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 18). For the following reasons, Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 13) is [1301]*1301GRANTED, and Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 15), and Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 18) are both DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant filed its Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 13) on July 27, 2012. Plaintiffs Response (Doc. 15) was filed as both a Motion for Summary Judgment and a Response to Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.1 In an abundance of caution, Defendant filed both a Reply to its Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 17) and its own Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 18). Defendant then filed a Response (Doc. 19) to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment, but also characterized the Response (Doc. 19) as a brief in support of its own Cross-Motion -for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff issued, a final Reply (Doc. 20) against all motions and responses filed by Defendant. .

While Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(d) allows the Court to convert a motion under Rule 12(b)(6) or 12(c) if matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the Court, the rule makes no provision for a party to unilaterally convert a response to a Rule 12(c) motion into an entirely new motion for summary judgment. To do so would result in the present situation: an infinite loop of responses and replies, with a periodic motion to restart the cycle. The appropriate procedure would have been to separately file a Response and, if desired, a separate motion for summary judgment. The Court will not condone Plaintiffs failure to properly do so, especially when it caused the resulting filing of a dispositive motion for no other reason except to address Plaintiffs erroneous filing. (See Doc. 17 at 1.) Accordingly, the Court will consider Plaintiffs filing .at Docket No. 15 solely as a Response to Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on'the Pleading, and will not consider all filings that áre responsive to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment, including Defendant’s Response (Doc. 19) and Plaintiffs Reply (Doc. 20). The Court also DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 18) and Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 15). The Court finds that only Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (Doc. 13) is fully and properly before the Court, briefed, and ripe for ruling.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

1. . The 2007 Policy

In 2007, Defendant issued its SelectOne for’ Community Banks Policy No. EC06800739 to Plaintiff, with a Policy Period of January 19, 2007 to January 19, 2010 (the “2007 Policy”). (Doe, 1-6 ¶ 4.)

2. The 2009. Complaint: .

In April 2009, Plaintiff was sued in Georgia Superior Court by a. group of twenty-one individual investors who purchased debt instruments (“debentures”) issued by Georgia Finance of Grady County, Inc. (“GFGC”). (Id. ¶ 12.) The 2009 Complaint alleged that the debt instruments were not registered with the Georgia Secretary of State as required by statute and that GFGC was not authorized to sell the debt instruments to the individual investors. (Doc. 1-8 ¶¶ 17-21.)

[1302]*1302GFGC was a customer of Plaintiff. (Id. ¶ 22) The 2009 Complaint alleged that Plaintiff, “notwithstanding its knowledge of these illegal and unauthorized activities by [GFGC] ... continued to provide financial aid to , [GFGC] through direct loans, overdraft of, checking accounts, and excessive credit card charges,” (Id. ■ ¶ 26.) The 2009 Complaint also alleged that in return for the financial aid, GFGC.issued promissory notes to Plaintiff as collateral for the debt GFGC owed Plaintiff. (Id. ¶¶ 23, 27.) Specifically, on September 5, 2008, Plaintiff was alleged to have procured promissory notes, secured by a security agreement and perfected by a financing statement, from GFGC that consisted of the bulk, if not all, of GFGC’s assets, as further collateral for the debt owed to Plaintiff. (Id.) Plaintiff was alleged to have withheld the September 5, 2008, financing statement from the public record until after GFGC defaulted on the security agreement. (Id. ¶ 30.) The Complaint contended that on February 5, 2009, GFGC consented to delivery to Plaintiff of all property described in the September 5, 2008, promissory note, security agreement, and financing agreement, which “destroyed] the business of [GFGC].” (Id. ¶ 32.) On February 10, 2009, Plaintiff allegedly gave notice to GFGC and each of the individual investors that it “intended to dispose of the collateral of which it had taken possession ‘privately on or after February 20, 2009.’ ” (Id. ¶ 33.) Plaintiff allegedly disposed of the property prior to February 20, 2009 to Greene, “a corporation owned by a close relative to an insider of [Plaintiff],” and the individual investors argued that Plaintiff did not receive a reasonably equivalent value in exchange. (Id. ¶¶ 33-35.) The individual investors accused Plaintiff of “destroying the business of [GFGC], and its going concern value, to the detriment of [the individuals],” thus violating the provisions of the Georgia Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. (Id. ¶¶ 37-38.) The individual investors also accused Plaintiff of violating the terms of the UCC by not disposing of the collateral in a “commercially reasonable manner as to method, time, place, or terms.” (Id. ¶ 36.)

3. Plaintiff’s Admissions as to the Applicability of the 2007 Policy to the 2009 Complaint:

In Plaintiff’s state court Complaint, it asserted that because the individuals’ claims in the 2009 Complaint fell within the definition of a “Lending Act,” and the 2007 Policy excluded coverage for any “Lending Act,” Plaintiff did not inform Defendant of the 2009 Complaint at the time it was filed." (Doc. 1-6 ¶ 15.)

4. The 2010 Policy:

In December 2009, Plaintiff submitted to Defendant an application to renew Plaintiffs existing insurance coverage and add a new insuring agreement, the Bankers Professional Liability Insuring Agreement. (Doc. 14-1 at 23-25.) The Bankers Professional Liability Insuring Agreement added two new coverage areas, Lending Act Coverage and Professional Service Act Coverage. (Id.) In 2010, Defendant issued Plaintiff its renewal SelectOne for Community Banks Policy No. EC06801618 with a Policy Period of January 19, 2010 to January 19, 2011 (the “2010 Policy”). The 2010 Policy included separate Insuring Agreements for Management Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary Liability, and Bankers Professional Liability. (Doc. 1-12 at 11.) Defendant’s duty in all four Insuring Agreements did not extend to the duty to defend. (Id. at 12-13.) The “prior litigation” date exclusion for the Fiduciary Liability Insuring Agreement and the Bankers Professional Liability Insuring Agreement was January 19, 2010. (Id.)

[1303]*1303 5. The 2010 Recast Petition;

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939 F. Supp. 2d 1299, 2013 WL 1333519, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45017, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bank-of-camilla-v-st-paul-mercury-insurance-gamd-2013.