Meyer v. Citizens & Southern National Bank

106 F.R.D. 356, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21992
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 7, 1985
DocketCiv. A. No. 84-103-COL
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 106 F.R.D. 356 (Meyer v. Citizens & Southern National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meyer v. Citizens & Southern National Bank, 106 F.R.D. 356, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21992 (M.D. Ga. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

ELLIOTT, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on the motion of Plaintiff, Elizabeth R. Meyer (herein "Plaintiff” or “Plaintiff Meyer”), to certify this action as a class action.

The complaint prays, among other things, for an accounting from The Citizens and Southern National Bank (herein “Defendant” or “Defendant Bank”) of certain of its investments made as Trustee of The Citizens and Southern Income Fund (herein the “Common Trust Fund” or the “Fund”) maintained by the Defendant Bank and a restoration of principal and income losses incurred by the Defendant because of imprudent or improper management and investment of Common Trust Fund assets.

Plaintiff seeks certification separately or, in the alternative, under Rules 23(b)(1)(A), 23(b)(1)(B) and 23(b)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

She defines the class as the beneficiaries of those trusts holding participating units in the Common Trust Fund of Defendant Bank from the beginning of the Fund on May 12, 1966, through the date of the commencement of this action.

The Court has before it, and has considered, the pleadings, depositions, interrogatory responses, affidavits, documents, and briefs filed by both sides. A hearing was held on January 21, 1985.

Defendant has maintained its Common Trust Fund since 1966. The Bank is the sole Trustee of that Fund and has the sole responsibility for investing the assets. The Common Trust Fund was created and governed by a written Declaration of Trust which provides that only individual trusts of which the Defendant Bank is Trustee or Co-Trustee may purchase participating units in the Common Trust Fund. The Defendant Bank serves as Trustee of various instruments entered into between it and the settlors of numerous testamentary or inter vivos trusts. Funds held by Defendant Bank as Trustee or Co-Trustee of the various individual trusts have been used to purchase units of participation in the Common Trust Fund. The formation and operation of the Common Trust Fund is subject to the regulations of the United States Comptroller of the Currency.

During the existence of the Common Trust Fund over 3,500 individual trusts with more than 7,800 beneficiaries have at one time or another owned participating units in the Fund.

[359]*359The Declaration of Trust of the Common Trust Fund provides as follows:

“SECTION 3.2. Ownership of assets. No participating trust shall be deemed to have individual ownership of any asset in the Common Fund, but each shall have a proportionate undivided interest in the Common Fund and shall share ratably with the others in the income, profits or losses thereof. All the assets of the Common Fund shall at all times be considered as assets held by the Bank as fiduciary and title thereto shall be vested solely in the Trustee.”
“SECTION 5.1. Each participation a proportionate interest in the Common Fund. No trust shall be permitted to acquire a participation in the Common Fund except in such manner and in such amount that the proportionate share or participation of such trust in the Common Fund may at all times be determined. Each participation in the Common Fund shall have a proportionately equal interest in the Common Fund and no participation shall have any prior or preferential interest over any other participation in the Common Fund.”

Although legal title to the assets placed in the Common Trust Fund is held by the Defendant Bank as Trustee, Plaintiff Meyer and others like her are the ultimate beneficiaries or equitable owners of those assets. The ownership of the assets in the Common Trust Fund is ownership in common with the individual participating trusts having undivided pro rata ownership according to the number of units in the Common Trust Fund owned by each trust.

The ownership of participating units in the Common Trust Fund is similar to owning units in a mutual fund. The investments made in the Common Trust Fund have the same impact on each participating unit although the degree of impact may vary according to the number of units owned by a particular trust.

The Common Trust Fund has its own separate accounting records. Defendant Bank as sole Trustee of the Common Trust Fund makes the investment decisions.

In December of 1972 Plaintiff Meyer placed $159,778.48 cash with Defendant Bank to be held by it as Trustee for her benefit. The Plaintiff agreed that the Defendant Bank could place her funds in its Common Trust Fund. The Defendant as Trustee of Plaintiffs individual trust used all of Plaintiffs money to purchase participating units in t he Common Trust Fund. Plaintiff Meyer received $900.00 per month income. She became concerned about a decrease in the value of her principal, and, in 1979 she instructed Defendant Bank to cash in the participating units owned by her individual trust in the income fund. She received a payment of $99,238.78, a loss of about 38%.

Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, outlines in detail the requirements for a class action. Subparagraph (a) of that Rule provides that members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if there is (1) numerosity, (2) common questions of law or fact, (3) typicality, and (4) fair and adequate protection of class interests by the representative parties.

Subparagraph (b) provides for maintenance of a class action if, in addition to the requirements of subparagraph (a), (1) separate actions would create a risk of (A) inconsistent results establishing incompatible standards of conduct, or (B) adjudications which would be dispositive of the interests of non-parties or substantially impair or impede their ability to protect those interests, or (2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, or (3) the common questions of law or fact predominate over questions affecting individual members and the class action is superior to other available methods.

It should be observed at the outset that in order to have a class certified, one must meet all four requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23(a) and at least one of the conditions under Rule 23(b). Blake v. Arnett, 663 F.2d 906, 912 (9 Cir.1981); Wetzel v. Liberty Mutual In[360]*360surance Co., 508 F.2d 239, 245, 248 (3 Cir.), cert. den. 421 U.S. 1011, 95 S.Ct. 2415, 44 L.Ed.2d 679 (1975). The Court has discretion in ruling on a motion to certify a class. Freeman v. Motor Convoy, Inc., 700 F.2d 1339, 1347 (11 Cir.1983); Perryman v. Johnson Products Co., Inc., 698 F.2d 1138, 1147 (11 Cir.1983). This discretion extends to defining the scope of the class. Shapiro v. Midwest Rubber Reclaiming Co., 626 F.2d 63, 71 (8 Cir. 1980).

It is the opinion of the Court that the class should be, and hereby is, certified. It is appropriate to set forth the authorities and the reasoning of the Court which support this ruling. In doing so, the Court will follow the outline of the requirements set forth in Rule 23.

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Bluebook (online)
106 F.R.D. 356, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meyer-v-citizens-southern-national-bank-gamd-1985.