Berger v. Bishop Investment Corp.

695 F.2d 302, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 23405
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 10, 1982
DocketNo. 81-2435
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 695 F.2d 302 (Berger v. Bishop Investment Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berger v. Bishop Investment Corp., 695 F.2d 302, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 23405 (8th Cir. 1982).

Opinion

COLLINSON, Senior District Judge.

This case raises a significant and much-litigated issue regarding the interrelationship of express and implied remedies under the federal securities laws. The precise question presented for decision is whether the plaintiffs-appellants may pursue an implied remedy under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5, promulgated thereunder, for transactions alleged in the complaint for which there may be an express remedy pursuant to Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933.

Because the Court answers this question in the affirmative, we reverse the district court and remand for further proceedings.

I. THE COMPLAINT AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW.

According to the complaint, the five plaintiffs-appellants in this action are individual purchasers of limited partnership units in Diamond Associates, Ltd. These units were offered and sold to the plaintiffs-appellants by the defendant-appellee R. Rowland & Co. (Rowland), a registered broker-dealer in securities, with the assistance of defendant-appellee Bishop Investment Corporation (Bishop), a California corporation engaged in the business of arranging for the sale of limited partnership interests, preparing offering circulars, collecting sales proceeds and coordinating these matters with broker-dealers. The individual defendant-appellee, Ronald E. West (West) was the shareholder and controlling person of Bishop, and defendant-appellee Truett H. Peachey (Peachey) was an officer and controlling person, as well as the manager of Diamond Management, Inc., the managing general partner of Diamond Associates, Ltd.

[304]*304Apparently the new limited partnership did not prove to be successful and Peachey, on behalf of Diamond Management, Inc., the general partner, filed a petition in the bankruptcy court in Houston, Texas, on or about May 6, 1980. Approximately four years following the plaintiffs-appellants’ purchases of the limited partnership interests, on August 28, 1981, the plaintiffs-appellants filed this complaint in the district court alleging violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 78j and S.E.C. Rule 10b-5 of the regulations promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. They seek to recover the sum of $62,500.00, which represents the $12,500.00 investment of each plaintiff, plus their costs.

The critical allegations in the plaintiffs-appellants’ complaint are contained in paragraph 9, which is quoted in its entirety:

In about August of 1977, the Defendants offered and sold to Plaintiffs limited partnership units at a price of $12,500 per unit by representing, among other things, that Peachey, manager of the general partner, had constructed in excess of 3,000 apartment units, 2,000 single family residences, 13 sections of residential subdivisions, three office buildings, three major hospitals, three major shopping center developments, 17 fast food stores, and 26 free standing strip shopping center complexes, and that he, Peachey, and/or the general partner Diamond Associates, Ltd. would guarantee for the first three years of the partnership a return equal to 8% of the invested dollars of the limited partners; but, intentionally or recklessly, omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading, to wit: that Peachey Construction Company had previously filed a Petition in Bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.

Following other motions and rulings,1 the defendants-appellees Bishop and West filed a motion to dismiss on a number of theories, including the issue relevant to this appeal. In substance, the defendants-appellees argued that the facts contained in the complaint clearly stated a cause of action arising under Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, which provides for an express remedy;2 a cause of action under Section 12(2) was barred by the applicable statute of limitations set forth in Section 13 of the Securities Act of 1933;3 to allow the plaintiffs-appellants to pursue the implied reme[305]*305dy arising under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-54 when express remedies are provided would undermine the statutory pattern of remedies created by Congress under the Securities Act of 1933. The plaintiffs-appellants do not contest the applicability of Section 12(2) to defendants-appellees’ conduct. Rather, they contend that Section 12(2) is not the sole or exclusive remedy afforded them under the securities laws; that Section 10(b) is likewise applicable to the defendants-appellees’ alleged misconduct; and that they are entitled to pursue a remedy under Section 10(b) regardless of the availability of a Section 12(2) remedy.

The district court adopted the defendants-appellees’ reasoning and dismissed the complaint, holding that the plaintiffs-appellants were precluded from proceeding under the 1934 Act when they could have brought their suit under Section 12(2) of the 1933 Act if the complaint had been timely filed. Plaintiffs-appellants appealed from this ruling of the district court.

II. AN IMPLIED ACTION EXISTS UNDER RULE 10b-5.

An implied right of action has been available for violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder for more than 35 years. The private damage suit under Section 10(b) was first recognized in Kardon v. National Gypsum Co., 69 F.Supp. 512 (E.D.Pa.1946), and subsequently has become a firmly entrenched remedy in the field of securities law and has been approved by the United States Supreme Court on several occasions. See, e.g., Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 730, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 1922, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975); Superintendent of Insurance v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co., 404 U.S. 6, 13 n. 9, 92 S.Ct. 165, 169 n. 9, 30 L.Ed.2d 128 (1971). In Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder, 425 U.S. 185, 96 S.Ct. 1375, 47 L.Ed.2d 668 (1976), the Supreme Court noted:

Although § 10(b) does not by its terms create an express civil remedy for its violation, and there is no indication that Congress, or the Commission when adopting Rule 10b-5, contemplated such a remedy, the existence of a private cause of action for violations of the statute and the Rule is now well-established.

425 U.S. at 196, 96 S.Ct. at 1382.

III. AVAILABILITY OF EXPRESS REMEDIES UNDER SECURITIES LAWS DOES NOT PRECLUDE IMPLIED 10b-5 ACTION.

1. Longstanding Judicial Interpretation.

The defendants do not dispute that Section 10(b) has been used in the past to [306]*306state a cause of action for misconduct similar to that alleged by the plaintiffs in their complaint.

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695 F.2d 302, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 23405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berger-v-bishop-investment-corp-ca8-1982.