Credit Index, L.L.C. v. RiskWise Intl. L.L.C.

192 Misc. 2d 755, 746 N.Y.S.2d 885, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1028
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 10, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 192 Misc. 2d 755 (Credit Index, L.L.C. v. RiskWise Intl. L.L.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Credit Index, L.L.C. v. RiskWise Intl. L.L.C., 192 Misc. 2d 755, 746 N.Y.S.2d 885, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1028 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Richard B. Lowe III, J.

Motion sequence numbers 007 and 008 are herewith consolidated for disposition. In motion sequence number 007,. defendant Reed Elsevier Inc. (Reed Elsevier) moves for an order dismissing the amended verified complaint of plaintiff, Credit Index, L.L.C. (TCI), dated May 3, 2001 (the amended complaint), as against Reed Elsevier, pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), on the ground that the amended complaint fails to state a cause of action as against Reed Elsevier.1 In motion sequence number 008, TCI moves for an order disqualifying the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP (Proskauer) from its representation of defendants herein. As discussed herein, the motion to dismiss is denied, and the motion to disqualify is granted.

Background

TCI and RiskWise Inti. L.L.C. (RiskWise) are each in the risk management business. They sell products and services to help companies reduce credit risk by, among other things, processing lists of potential customers for their credit and purchase histories. TCI and RiskWise, together with certain affiliates, defendants RiskMagic L.L.C., RiskWise L.L.C., and Business Transactions Express, Inc. (collectively, referred to as RiskWise) signed a contract entitled “Master Agreement,” dated as of June 30, 1999.

The Master Agreement established a strategic relationship between TCI and RiskWise. TCI provided RiskWise with, [757]*757among other things, a license of TCI data (including its “Negative File” data, which contains risk information collected on an ongoing basis from approximately 60 direct marketing companies), a minority equity interest in TCI, and a covenant that TCI would not sell its data to certain RiskWise competitors. In return, TCI received, among other things, a covenant that neither RiskWise, nor its affiliates, would sell their products to direct marketing customers (DM companies), and that Risk-Wise would hold the “Negative File” as well as any other sensitive information it received from TCI, including the identity of TCI’s customers, strictly confidential.

Section 2.6 (g) of the Master Agreement prohibits RiskWise and its affiliates from providing any risk management services or solutions to these companies. That section provides that:

“No RiskWise Party, or any affiliate thereof, shall, during the term of this Agreement, or for a period of four years thereafter: (i) sell, provide or engage in, any risk management solution or service (including, without limitation, List Screening Solutions and Order Screening Solutions) to, or for the benefit of, any DM Company, including any Persons that were customers or clients of any RiskWise Party prior to the Effective Date, or (ii) enter into any arrangement, agreement or commitment to provide any such solutions or services, directly or indirectly, to any DM Company.” (Emphasis added.)

Section 1.1 of the Master Agreement defines “affiliate” as “any other Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, such specified Person.” Additionally, the Master Agreement contains an exclusive jurisdiction and forum selection clause (“no suit or action for breach of this Agreement shall be brought unless instituted and maintained in any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction in New York County, State of New York” [Master Agreement § 17.16]).

Concurrent with the execution of the Master Agreement on June 30, 1999, a second agreement was executed by RiskWise and TCI (the TCI Operating Agreement). Under the TCI Operating Agreement, RiskWise made a capital contribution of $500,000 to TCI, and, in return, RiskWise became the holder of a membership interest in TCI and obtained the opportunity to increase that equity position at a later date.

In May 2000, Reed Elsevier, through its Lexis-Nexis Group Division (Nexis), acquired 100% of the stock of RiskWise. Nexis [758]*758announced in a press release that RiskWise “will operate, along with Nexis public records business, as Nexis RiskWise, a division of Nexis.” According to TCI, Reed Elsevier was aware of the terms of the Master Agreement at the time it purchased RiskWise. TCI claims that Reed Elsevier then began to use its large sales and marketing force to promote the sale of Risk-Wise products to customers, including DM companies. Specifically, TCI claims that an August 2000 audit revealed that Risk-Wise was violating the Master Agreement by, inter alia, selling risk management services to several DM companies, including the direct computer retailers Gateway, Inc. and Dell Computer Corp., and the direct credit card merchants Capital One Financial Corp. and First USA Bank N.A.2 TCI further alleges that, after the acquisition, Reed Elsevier integrated its Nexis’s sales force with RiskWise’s sales force with respect to the sale and marketing of risk management services and products.

On November 11, 2000, TCI commenced this action against RiskWise and its preacquisition affiliates, claiming that Risk-Wise’s sales to DM companies breached section 2.6 (g) of the Master Agreement, and that defendants also breached the provisions of the Master Agreement pertaining to confidentiality and debt collection.3

On January 23, 2001, TCI sought leave to amend the complaint to add claims against Reed Elsevier. Leave to amend was granted. In the amended complaint, TCI advances two causes of action against Reed Elsevier. The first is for breach of contract. TCI states that Reed Elsevier, through Nexis, breached the noncompete provision in section 2.6 (g) of the Master Agreement by selling and providing risk management solutions and/or services to, or for the benefit of, customers prohibited under the Master Agreement. TCI alternatively asserts a cause of action against Reed Elsevier for unjust enrichment, based on profits Reed Elsevier allegedly received from its sale of risk management products to DM companies. An answer, asserting counterclaims under the Master Agreement and the TCI Operating Agreement, was interposed by RiskWise.

[759]*759Motion to Dismiss

In support of the motion to dismiss, Reed Elsevier claims that it cannot be bound by the Master Agreement because it had nothing to do with it, did not sign it, and was a total stranger to the Master Agreement, and, moreover, never agreed to assume, or be assigned, the liabilities of the seller. It thus argues that it cannot be liable for the alleged breach of the noncompete provisions of the Master Agreement. Reed Elsevier also contends that it is not bound by the Master Agreement because it was given no consideration therefor.

In considering the sufficiency of a pleading subject to a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action under CPLR 3211 (a) (7), the court must determine whether, “ ‘accepting as true the factual averments of the complaint, plaintiff can succeed upon any reasonable view of the facts stated’ ” (Campaign for Fiscal Equity v State of New York, 86 NY2d 307, 318 [1995] [citation omitted]; see also, Guggenheimer v Ginzburg, 43 NY2d 268 [1977]). The court is “required to accord plaintiffs the benefit of all favorable inferences which may be drawn from their pleading, without expressing [its] opinion as to whether they can ultimately establish the truth of their allegations before the trier of fact” (Campaign for Fiscal Equity v State of New York, supra, 86 NY2d at 318).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 Misc. 2d 755, 746 N.Y.S.2d 885, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/credit-index-llc-v-riskwise-intl-llc-nysupct-2002.