Mercury Service, Inc. v. Allied Bank of Texas

117 F.R.D. 147, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7467
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 14, 1987
DocketNo. CV 85-4503 WJR
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 117 F.R.D. 147 (Mercury Service, Inc. v. Allied Bank of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mercury Service, Inc. v. Allied Bank of Texas, 117 F.R.D. 147, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7467 (C.D. Cal. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER SUSTAINING PERSONAL JURISDICTION AND AWARDING RULE 11 SANCTIONS

REA, District Judge.

The parties have presented four issues for the Court’s decision: (1), whether plaintiffs have preliminarily demonstrated that the Court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant Allied Bank of Texas; (2), whether to transfer venue to a Texas district; (3), whether to sanction defendant or its counsel for the filing of a false or misleading declaration in support of their . motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction; and (4), whether to impose discovery sanctions on Allied Bank in conjunction with plaintiffs’ attempts to obtain records of the bank’s California business.

BACKGROUND

This action arises out of defendant Allied Bank’s refusal to honor two checks written by Centurion Petroleum Company upon its Allied account to the plaintiffs Mercury Service, Inc. and Mercury Refueling, Inc. Centurion wrote the checks in question as payment for jet fuel sold by plaintiffs to Centurion in California.

Allied Bank was a creditor of Centurion, having funded a line of credit to Centurion that varied from $1 to $2 million. Pursuant to this line of credit, Allied took security interests in all of Centurion’s corporate assets. Concerned about Centurion’s doubtful solvency, Allied foreclosed on its line of credit in July 1984, and it seized Centurion’s assets, including the corporation’s checking account on deposit with Al[150]*150lied—forcing Centurion into bankruptcy (Centurion has now ceased doing business). As a result, Allied refused payment on checks subsequently presented for payment on Centurion’s account, including the checks at issue. Plaintiffs allege that defendant credited the balance of Centurion’s checking account to Allied’s own account despite knowing that Centurion had outstanding checks. Plaintiff filed suit in this Court on a number of theories, including a claim under 12 U.S.C. § 1972—which prohibits certain tying arrangements.

In December 1985, defendant Allied Bank of Texas filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2). In support of this motion, defendant’s counsel submitted the Declaration of Richard Eldred, Senior Vice President of the Corporate Services Department of Allied Bank. In this Declaration dated December 4, 1985, Mr. Eldred stated:

Allied Bank of Texas is a Texas banking corporation with its principal offices in Houston, Texas. It is a “regional” banking institution which has a stated philosophy of doing business locally with people who have local credit references. Allied Bank of Texas has no offices in California. It has no employees in California. It has no agents or service of process in California and is not authorized, qualified or licensed to do business in California. It does not accept deposits or make loans in California. It owns no real property in California. It has no telephone listing in California. It solicits no business in California. No California banks maintain “correspondent” accounts with Allied Bank of Texas.

Mr. Eldred declared under the penalty of perjury that he had “personal knowledge” of these facts and if called as a witness, that he “could and would testify thereto.” The plaintiffs requested and the defendant eventually agreed to a continuance of the motion to dismiss to allow plaintiffs the opportunity to conduct discovery on the bank’s contacts with California. The motion has been continued for over one year.

Discovery revealed that Mr. Eldred did not have personal knowledge of the statements in his Declaration. Plaintiffs deposed Mr. Eldred on November 17, 1986. In his deposition, Mr. Eldred indicated that he stated that Allied owns no real property in California on “[a]dvice of [in-house counsel, Charles Pickett] and understanding our nature of business.” Eldred admitted that he had made no personal investigation and he was unaware what factual investigation Mr. Pickett had made.

Plaintiffs’ counsel told Mr. Eldred that depositions of Allied’s loan officers had revealed that the officers had gone to California in connection with loans made to California entities, and plaintiffs’ counsel then asked whether Mr. Eldred was aware of these facts. Mr. Eldred indicated that he was not. This exchange followed:

Q: Did you, at any time, advise Mr. Pickett or anyone else acting for or on behalf of Allied Bank, that you did not feel that you had the factual basis to comment on the loan practices or solicitation of loan business by Allied Bank?
A. As I said earlier, I believe I did.
Q. And, notwithstanding that, this document was prepared for your signature?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. All right.
A. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a “blind fool,” but when you have people indicate to you that they are dealing from a better position in Allied’s [sic] than you, this is a pretty big institution to try to go searching around and try to figure out which each of dozens of loan officers have been doing for the last ten years.
That was my understanding, and it was based on the philosophy of business that we have had ever since I have been with the company.

Mr. Eldred further stated in his deposition that he had no personal knowledge of several other facts stated in his Declaration and that in signing his Declaration he relied solely on the advice of in-house counsel that they were true. Mr. Eldred acknowledged that he did not know whether Centu[151]*151rion Corporation was a Texas corporation currently in bankruptcy proceedings, did not know whether Centurion had a checking account with Allied, did not know whether Allied had dishonored checks drawn on Centurion’s account, did not know whether an offered exhibit was in fact a true copy of the loan agreement between Centurion and Allied, and did not know whether an offered exhibit was a true and correct copy of the Trustee’s Notice of Motion for Approval of Stipulation as to Property in Possession of Debtor mailed to Allied Bank of Texas on January 29, 1985.

Apart from the problem that Mr. Eldred falsely stated that he had personal knowledge to back the assertions in his Declaration, the assertions concerning the Bank’s contacts with California are at least seriously misleading if not outrightly false. As the below discussion indicates, the true facts are that Allied Bank has numerous contacts with California that the Eldred Declaration omitted.

Mr. Eldred made statements in his deposition that contradicted his Declaration that the bank has a “stated philosophy of doing business locally with people who have local credit references.” Mr. Eldred indicated that he and other Allied executives make occasional trips to California to encourage Customer Number One1 to expand its business with the Bank. Eldred also calls Customer Number One in California “every couple months or so” to discuss business. Customer Number One employs Allied to act as a depository for escrow title insurance monies generated within Texas.

Allied Bank has additional contacts with California through its business with Centurion Petroleum Company.

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Bluebook (online)
117 F.R.D. 147, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7467, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mercury-service-inc-v-allied-bank-of-texas-cacd-1987.