Federal Deposit Insurance v. Cherry, Bekaert & Holland

131 F.R.D. 596, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6033, 1990 WL 84771
District Court, M.D. Florida·Decided April 4, 1990·No. No. 88-1147-CIV-T-15C·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

ORDER

ELIZABETH A. JENKINS, United States Magistrate.

THIS CAUSE comes on for consideration of defendant Cherry Bekaert & Holland’s (“Cherry Bekaert”) Motion to Compel Production of Documents and for Sanctions (Dkt. 138), and Cherry Bekaert’s Request for Oral Argument (Dkt. 140) with respect thereto. Cherry Bekaert seeks an order compelling the production of certain documents in the possession of plaintiff which it considers responsive to the following requests for production: Plaintiff’s First Request for Production Nos. 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 26; Plaintiff’s Second Request for Production Nos. 2, 13, 16. Cherry Bekaert also seeks sanctions for FDIC’s allegedly untimely disclosure and designation of certain documents as privileged.

7. Introduction

The FDIC has objected to producing certain documents to Cherry Bekaert on grounds of attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine.1 Because the parties have filed extensive memoranda on the motion to compel, oral argument is unnecessary. Therefore, Cherry Bekaert’s Request for Oral Argument is DENIED. The documents disclosed in a September 12, 1989 letter from FDIC counsel to Cherry Bekaert counsel which were withheld on privilege grounds by the FDIC are:

1. Reports of Criminal Irregularity (“criminal referrals”) sent to the Justice Department (attorney-client);
2. Loan “writeups” (attorney-client, work product);
3. Post-closing report, historical analysis, and time line of Park Bank (attorney-client, work product)2;
4. Witness statements taken by or on behalf of the FDIC and “work papers” (work product)3;
5. 191 other documents involving communications between Park Bank and its counsel, pre-closing (attorney-client privilege).

77. Criminal Referrals

The FDIC has identified four “Reports of Criminal Irregularity,” or “criminal referrals” from FDIC to the U.S. Attorney, as documents which have been withheld from Cherry Bekaert on grounds of attorney-client privilege. FDIC is not asserting the privilege of Park Bank with respect to these documents but its own attorney-client privilege.4

[599]*599According to the FDIC, the criminal referrals were created by FDIC personnel after the closing of Park Bank and in connection with the loan writeups it prepared. FDIC states that these documents are confidential transmittals to the U.S. Attorney’s office by FDIC investigators expressing views that certain criminal activity may have occurred with respect to various transactions at the bank.

Cherry Bekaert makes several arguments as to why it contends that the criminal referrals are not privileged. First, it argues that FDIC has cited no statute or rule which appoints the Criminal Division of the Justice Department or the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida as the FDIC’s attorney, or, that in making these referrals the FDIC was seeking to become the client of the U.S. Attorney. Second, Cherry Bekaert argues that the criminal referrals were not communications made for the purpose of securing legal opinions, legal services, or seeking legal assistance in some legal proceeding. Finally, Cherry Bekaert argues that the facts disclosed by the FDIC to the U.S. Attorney would have to be disclosed to criminal defendants at some point if the facts transmitted by the FDIC were for the purpose of having the U.S. Attorney institute criminal proceedings.

The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between a client and his attorney where the communications concern legal advice or tend to disclose information given to the attorney by the client. In re Grand Jury Subpoena, 788 F.2d 1511, 1512 (11th Cir.1986). The burden of proof is on the party asserting the privilege to establish the existence of an attorney-client relationship and the confidential nature of the information sought. Id. at 1511-1512.

The FDIC cites Employers Insurance of Wausau v. Federal Dep. Ins. Corp., No. Civ-3-85-311 & 312, slip opinion (E.D.Tenn. April 22, 1986) for the proposition that the criminal referrals are protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege of the FDIC. The Wausau case appears to be the only case directly on point. In Wausau, the court noted that the FDIC was obligated to report violations of the criminal laws which it uncovers during a bank investigation, slip op. at 16. In reporting such suspected violations, the court held, the U.S. Attorney acted as the FDIC’s lawyer. Ibid. The court viewed the FDIC and the Justice Department as working towards a common goal, prosecution of violation of the banking laws, with an identity of legal interests. Ibid, citing United States v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 86 F.R.D. 603, 616 (D.D.C.1980).

The undersigned concludes that the FDIC’s attorney is the Justice Department and its U.S. Attorneys with regard to investigations of bank misconduct and for the referral of suspected criminal violations for prosecution and that the criminal referrals at issue here were disclosed in confidence to the U.S. Attorney’s office with the common goal of prosecuting violations of the federal banking laws through the exercise of the FDIC’s duty to report violations of such laws. Therefore, the attorney-client privilege applies to the criminal referrals and the FDIC’s refusal to produce these documents is proper.5

[600]*600 III. Loan Writeups, Historical Analyses, Post-Closing Reports, Time Line, Work Papers

A. Loan Writeups

Cherry Bekaert seeks to compel the production of loan “writeups” prepared by FDIC investigators after the closing of Park Bank. The parties apparently agree that the “writeups” include documents referred to as the “four to five page checklists,” the individual “loan histories,” and the “six part memoranda.” It appears that the loan histories were a part of the six-part memoranda which in turn made up the bulk of each loan writeup. Thus, the discoverability of all of these documents making up the loan writeups shall be considered together.

The FDIC argues that the loan writeups are protected from disclosure by the work product doctrine and by the attorney-client privilege.

Cherry Bekaert contends that the documents are not protected work product because deposition testimony shows that the loan writeups were not created at the direction of counsel and contain only factual material which has been stripped of any opinions. In addition, even if the documents are found to have been created in anticipation of litigation, Cherry Bekaert argues that it has a substantial need for the documents and that the underlying documents are not the equivalent of the loan writeups and related documents prepared by FDIC. Cherry Bekaert fails to address the contention that the loan writeups are protected by the attorney-client privilege.

The work product doctrine protects from disclosure materials prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for a party or by or for that party’s attorney acting for his client.

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Federal Deposit Insurance v. Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, 131 F.R.D. 596, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6033, 1990 WL 84771 (M.D. Fla. 1990).

131 F.R.D. 596 (Federal Deposit Insurance v. Cherry, Bekaert & Holland) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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