Moore v. Kayport Package Express, Inc.

885 F.2d 531
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 6, 1989
DocketNo. 88-5564
StatusPublished
Cited by335 cases

This text of 885 F.2d 531 (Moore v. Kayport Package Express, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Kayport Package Express, Inc., 885 F.2d 531 (9th Cir. 1989).

Opinion

DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge:

Defrauded investors who lost money in the purchase of unregistered securities sued the principals involved, as well as various accountants, lawyers and stockbrokers. The investors’ second amended complaint was dismissed as against the accountants, lawyers and stockbrokers; however, they obtained judgment against the principals for $854,722.85 plus attorney fees of $284,722.85. The principals are F. George Celani, Aaron M. Binder, Kayport Package Express, Inc., and Celani, Celani & Celani Associates, Inc. They do not appeal. The investors do. They contend the district court erred in dismissing their second amended complaint against the accountants, lawyers and stockbrokers, and in twice denying leave to file a third amended complaint. We affirm in part and remand in part.

BACKGROUND

The principals organized tax shelter limited partnerships. Limited partnership interests in these partnerships were securities within the meaning of the federal securities laws. The limited partnership interests were not registered, nor were they exempt from registration. In 1981 and 1982 sales of these limited partnership interests totaled $3.8 million. Not only did the principals fail to register the limited partnership interests, they engaged in fraudulent practices and made fraudulent representations in connection with sales of the interests. The investors bought the interests (the “securities”), lost money, and in September 1983 they filed their initial complaint. They alleged violations of section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77l(2), and various pendent state causes of action. Before any responsive pleading was filed, they filed their first amended complaint.

Several of the accountant and lawyer defendants filed motions to dismiss the first amended complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) (“rule 12(b)(6)”), asserting that plaintiffs had failed to state any claim [534]*534on which relief could be granted and had failed to plead fraud with the specificity required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b) (“rule 9(b)”). The district court granted these motions with leave to amend. The court’s order specified the deficiencies of the first amended complaint and outlined the manner in which the complaint should be amended. The court noted that the complaint was stated in general and conclusory terms, and was devoid of facts supporting the charges of fraud as to the moving defendants. Further, the court ruled that under the authority of Hokama v. E.F. Hutton and Co., 566 F.Supp. 636 (C.D.Cal.1983), and SEC v. Murphy, 626 F.2d 633 (9th Cir.1980), the investors had not alleged facts to show that the accountant and lawyer defendants had been a substantial factor in the securities transactions; therefore these defendants were not subject to liability under section 12(2) of the Act.

The investors filed their second amended complaint in February 1984. The accountant and lawyer defendants, now joined by the stockbroker defendants, brought motions to dismiss. On grounds similar to those previously stated, the district court granted essentially all of these motions. The court dismissed the section 12(2) federal claim against the accountant and lawyer defendants, and dismissed the pendent state claims against these defendants and against the stockbroker defendants.

In May 1984, the investors sought leave to file a third amended complaint. In their proposed third amended complaint accompanying their motion, the investors real-leged their section 12(2) claim, this time adding the stockbrokers as defendants. They also introduced new federal claims (1) under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b) (“section 10(b)”), and rule 10b-5 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 140.10b-5 (“rule 10b-5”); and (2) under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c).1 The court denied leave to file the third amended complaint. The court explained that the section 12(2) claim was subject to dismissal because it lacked allegations of any facts to show that any of the accountants, lawyers or stockbrokers had been in privity with any investor in any sales transaction or had been a substantial factor in bringing about any sales transaction. Further, the court determined that the claim based upon section 10(b) and rule 10b-5 was not pleaded with specificity as required by rule 9(b), and that the RICO claim lacked allegations of a racketeering enterprise injury.

Following the district court’s 1984 denial of leave to file the proposed third amended complaint, the investors’ case languished in the district court. In mid-1987, the district court, on its own motion, issued an order to show cause why the complaint should not be dismissed for lack of prosecution. On June 13, 1987, the investors filed a second motion for leave to file a third amended complaint.2 On July 30, 1987, the district court denied this motion, and set a trial date for the case to proceed to trial under the surviving counts of the second amended complaint. The principal defendants defaulted, and the district court entered judgment against them. All counts of the second amended complaint against the accountant, lawyer and stockbroker defen[535]*535dants were dismissed. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

A. Dismissal of the Section 12(2) Count in the Second Amended Complaint

The investors-appellants argue the district court erroneously dismissed their section 12(2) claim which they alleged against the accountant and lawyer defendants in the second amended complaint.3 Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 imposes civil liability on a person who offers or sells securities by means of a prospectus or oral communication containing material misrepresentations or omissions. Jett v. Sunderman, 840 F.2d 1487, 1491 (9th Cir.1988). The investors contend the accountant and lawyer defendants were liable as “sellers” under section 12(2) because their actions were a substantial factor in bringing about the sales transactions.

This circuit has applied the “substantial factor test” to determine who may be liable as a “seller” under section 12(2), see, e.g., id. at 1491-92. Under this test, persons who did not pass title in a sales transaction, and thus were not in privity with the purchaser, may nonetheless be liable as a “seller” if their actions were both necessary to and a substantial factor in bringing about the sales transaction. Id. The district court in the present case applied this test.

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Bluebook (online)
885 F.2d 531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-kayport-package-express-inc-ca9-1989.