Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C. v. Bank of America, N.A.

62 F. Supp. 3d 651, 85 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 282, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164121, 2014 WL 6669277
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedNovember 24, 2014
DocketCase No. 14-10636
StatusPublished

This text of 62 F. Supp. 3d 651 (Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C. v. Bank of America, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, P.L.C. v. Bank of America, N.A., 62 F. Supp. 3d 651, 85 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 282, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164121, 2014 WL 6669277 (E.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. 10)

TERRENCE G. BERG, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Bank of America, N.A.’s (“Defendant’s”) motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (Dkt. 10) This motion was fully briefed and the parties presented oral argument on June 9, 2014. For the reasons set out below, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is DENIED.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is a negligence case. Plaintiff, the law firm of Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sad-ler, P.L.C. (“Plaintiff’), alleges that it suffered significant monetary losses because of Defendant Bank of America, N.A.’s negligence in accepting over $500,000 in diverted trust account checks. As part of a fraudulent scheme, a former partner of Plaintiff caused Plaintiff to write a number of checks made payable to Defendant from Plaintiffs IOLTA account.1 The partner, an account holder and customer of Defendant, presented these checks to Defendant, and Defendant deposited the funds into the partner’s personal account maintained by Defendant. Though Plaintiff did not owe Defendant any money and did not have a business relationship with Defendant, it is alleged that Defendant made no inquiry regarding the checks before depositing them. As a result, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violated the common law “duty of inquiry.” Defendant counters that it did not owe Plaintiff any duty and that it held the checks as a holder in due course under the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”), free from any claims on the checks. For the reasons that follow, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is DENIED.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a law firm located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. (Second Amended Complaint, Dkt. 9, at ¶ 1.) Beginning on or about November 15, 2010, Plaintiffs former partner Kenneth Flaska (“Flaska”) defrauded Plaintiff by laundering funds through Defendant.2 (Id. at ¶ 6.) Flaska’s fraud consisted of presenting and depositing checks drawn on Plaintiffs IOLTA account into Flaska’s personal bank account maintained by Defendant. (Id.) [653]*653From November 2010 until March 2013, Defendant received and credited nine of these checks into Flaska’s account, totaling $529,676.50.3 (Id. at ¶ 7.) All of the checks were drawn from Plaintiffs IOLTA account and were payable on their face to “Bank of America,” the Defendant. (Id. at ¶¶ 6-7., Exs. A-I.) Despite the fact that Plaintiff was not one of Defendant’s customers and was not indebted to Defendant,' Defendant allegedly never inquired into these checks before crediting them to Flaska’s account. (Second Amended Complaint, Dkt. 9 at ¶¶ 9,13.)

On November 15, 2013, Plaintiff sued Defendant, in Oakland County Circuit Court.4 (Dkt. 1, Ex. l.j Plaintiff amended its state court complaint on February 5, 2014, alleging four counts against Defendant, including: (1) breach of the common law duty of inquiry; (2) common law conversion; (3) statutory conversion; and (4) negligence. (Id.) Defendant removed the case to this Court on February 11, 2014. (Dkt. 1.) Plaintiff subsequently amended its complaint, eliminating Counts'2 and 3 and proceeding solely on Counts 1 and 4. (Id.)

III. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

A Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests whether a legally sufficient claim has been pleaded in a complaint, and provides for dismissal when a plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A claim is facially plausible when a plaintiff pleads factual content that permits a court to reasonably infer that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). When assessing whether a plaintiff has set forth a “plausible” claim, the district court must accept all of the complaint’s factual allegations as true. See Ziegler v. IBP Hog Mkt., Inc., 249 F.3d 509, 512 (6th Cir.2001). A plaintiff must provide “more than labels and conclusions,” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Therefore, “[tjhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

B. Discussion

1. The Common Law Duty of Inquiry.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant was negligent because it breached its common law “duty of inquiry.” In diversity jurisdiction actions, federal ■ courts must [654]*654“appl[y] the substantive law of the forum state — in this case, Michigan.” Conlin v. Mortg. Elec. Registration Sys., Inc., 714 F.3d 355, 358 (6th Cir.2013). The Michigan Court of Appeals first recognized a common law duty of inquiry in Allis Chalmers Leasing Servs. Corp. v. Byron Ctr. State Bank, 129 Mich.App. 602, 341 N.W.2d 837 (1983). In Allis Chalmers, the plaintiff wrote a check payable to the defendant, Byron Center State Bank, as part of a purchase and leaseback agreement that the plaintiff had entered into with Gary Deneen, a customer of the defendant. Id. at 839. Deneen presented the check to the defendant as part of a fraudulent scheme Deneen devised to defraud the plaintiff. Id. The defendant’s employee distributed the proceeds according to De-neen’s instructions without making any inquiry into how the funds should be used. Id.

Seeking to recover its losses, the plaintiff brought a negligence action against the defendant bank for the amount of the check. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant bank was negligent in disbursing the check to Deneen without first inquiring into how the funds should be disbursed. Id. On appeal, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, citing the general rule that “[wjhere a check is drawn to the order of a bank to which the drawer is not indebted, the bank is authorized to pay the proceeds only to persons specified by the drawer; it takes the risk in treating such a check as payable to bearer and is placed on inquiry as to the authority of the drawer’s agent to receive payment.” Id. (internal citation omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
62 F. Supp. 3d 651, 85 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 282, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164121, 2014 WL 6669277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dawda-mann-mulcahy-sadler-plc-v-bank-of-america-na-mied-2014.