Franklin United Methodist Home, Inc. v. Lancaster Pollard & Co.

909 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 WL 5472089, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160866
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedNovember 8, 2012
DocketCause No. 1:10-cv-1086-RLY-DKL
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 909 F. Supp. 2d 1037 (Franklin United Methodist Home, Inc. v. Lancaster Pollard & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Franklin United Methodist Home, Inc. v. Lancaster Pollard & Co., 909 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 WL 5472089, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160866 (S.D. Ind. 2012).

Opinion

ENTRY and ORDERS

DENISE K. LARUE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff’s Motion for Protective Order [doc. 86] Defendants’ Motion to Compel [doc. 94]

This Cause comes before the Court on the above-entitled motions. Plaintiff Franklin United Methodist Home (“FUMH”) seeks a protective order (1) facilitating its production of non-privileged documents that relate to its settlement agreement with non-party Lehman Brothers Special Financing, Inc. (“Lehman”) and that are currently subject to confidentiality orders issued in Lehman’s bankruptcy case, and (2) precluding its production of privileged attorney-client and work-product documents pertaining to that settlement. Defendants Lancaster Pollard & Co. and Steven W. Kennedy, one of its partners (collectively “LP”) seek an order compelling FUMH to produce both categories of documents. For the reasons set forth herein, FUMH’s motion is granted and LP’s motion is denied.1

[1039]*1039Familiarity with the details of the allegations is presumed and are summarized here as relevant to the present motions. In its role as FUMH’s financial advisor, LP recommended to FUMH that it enter into two interest-rate swaps with Lehman. FUMH accepted the recommendation and entered into two such swaps, one in 2006 and one in 2007. In September 2008, Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge James M. Peck. In re Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., et al., Chapter 11 Case No. 08-13555(JMP) (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.) (“Lehman Bankruptcy ”). In October and November 2008, LP advised FUMH that Lehman’s filing constituted defaults under the terms of the swaps, entitling FUMH to terminate the swaps, and that FUMH should not make the next payments. LP prepared notices of the suspension of FUMH’s payments and the termination of the swaps and directed FUMH to fax the notices to Lehman. FUMH followed LP’s advice and utilized their notices. In addition, FUMH alleges that, in November 2008, again at the direction and advice of LP, FUMH entered into a swap transaction with Morgan Stanley Capital Services, Inc. to replace the Lehman swaps.

FUMH alleges that LP’s notices and directions regarding the Lehman swaps were defective in three respects: first, the notices terminated only the 2007 swap, not the 2006 swap as well; second, under the terms of the swaps, termination notices could not be sent by fax; and, third, LP miscalculated the termination payment due from FUMH to Lehman.

In September 2009, Lehman notified FUMH that its purported termination of the swaps was not valid, that FUMH was delinquent in its payment obligations under the swaps, and that its delinquency was a violation of the automatic bankruptcy stay (the “Lehman Claims”). [Doc. 87-1.] Lehman asserted that FUMH was, therefore, obligated to continue making its payments and that it was then too late for FUMH to terminate the swaps based on Lehman’s insolvency, financial condition, or bankruptcy. Lehman also indicated that the Bankruptcy Court had the power to enforce FUMH’s performance under the swaps. Lehman included with its letter a September 15, 2009 ruling issued by the Bankruptcy Court in its case regarding another customer’s swap contract with Lehman that supported Lehman’s positions (the “Metavante Order”). [Doc. 87-3]. Lehman demanded that FUMH resume its payments and pay all arrearages, with interest. Lehman also warned that it might seek compensation for all damages it incurs as a result of the delinquencies.2

FUMH filed the present suit against LP in August 2010, seeking a declaratory judgment that, if FUMH is found liable on the Lehman Claims, then LP is liable to FUMH for all resulting damages and the costs and fees incurred by FUMH in defending the Lehman Claims. [Doc. 1-1, p. 4.]

The Bankruptcy Court aggressively promoted quick settlements with Lehman’s swap customers in hopes of bringing substantial assets into Lehman’s bankruptcy estate without trial or further litigation. To that end, the court ordered the customers and Lehman to engage in alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) and ordered certain procedures to facilitate those efforts. In re Lehman Bros., Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures Order for Affirmative Claims of Debtors Under Derivatives Contracts (doc. 5207) (“ADR Or[1040]*1040der”) (Bankr.S.D.N.Y., Sept. 17, 2009) [doc. 87-2 in the present case]. Under the ADR Order, FUMH was compelled to engage in good faith in the mandatory staged ADR process with Lehman. This process consisted of an initial notice/response stage, followed, if resolution is not achieved, by a mediation stage with a third-party mediator. The ADR Order also warned the parties of the possible consequences of failing to participate in good faith:

12. Sanctions for Parties. Each Debtor, Derivatives Counterparty and Indenture Trustee must participate in good faith with these Derivatives ADR Procedures with regard to the ADR Disputes specified in the applicable Derivatives ADR Notice. If, after notice and a hearing, the Court determines that a party has not complied with the Derivatives ADR Procedures in good faith in connection with any Derivatives ADR Dispute, the Debtors, Derivatives Counterparty or Indenture Trustee, as the case may be, may be subject to such sanctions as the Court deems appropriate (the “Sanctions”). If a mediator reports to the Court that any party subject to this Order is not cooperating in good faith with the Derivatives ADR Procedures, the Court may, without the need for further motion by any party, schedule a hearing and order Sanctions. Litigation with respect to the issuance of Sanctions shall not delay the commencement of the Mediation Stage of these procedures upon completion of the Notice/Response Stage. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to:
b. Against Derivatives Counterparties (including Indenture Trustees with Authority): (i) attorneys’ fees incurred by the Debtors with respect to the Derivatives ADR Procedures after the sending of an ADR Package; (ii) fees and costs of the Mediator; (iii) an award of the Derivatives ADR Dispute up to the amount specified in the Derivatives ADR Notice.

ADR Order § 12.

In the Metavante Order, Judge Peck found that Metavante, another swap customer of Lehman, had waived its contractual option to terminate the swap by not taking timely and effective action “fairly contemporaneously” with Lehman’s bankruptcy filing and, therefore, continued to owe payments to Lehman. Because he found that Metavante had “an insufficient commitment to a timely settlement” after unsuccessfully engaging in ADR, Judge Peck ordered it to perform under the swap agreement until such time as Lehman determined, under the Bankruptcy Code, whether to assume or reject their executory swap contract. Thus, Metavante was held responsible for making delinquent payments in excess of six million dollars (representing unpaid quarterly payments and in excess of $300,000 default interest) and future swap payments.

Lehman initiated the notice/response stage of the ADR process with FUMH in May 2011. FUMH and Lehman reached a settlement sometime in September 2011, (Defendants’ Combined Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for a Protective Order [doc. 95] (“Defendants’ Combined Memorandum”) at 11 n. 2), pursuant to which FUMH made payment of $2.4 million to Lehman.

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Bluebook (online)
909 F. Supp. 2d 1037, 2012 WL 5472089, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/franklin-united-methodist-home-inc-v-lancaster-pollard-co-insd-2012.