Paragon v . Town of Hanover CV-07-118-JL 8/8/08 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
Paragon Residential Group, LLC Paragon Residential Properties, LLC, James Leavitt and Louise Parker
v. Civil N o . 07-cv-118-JL Opinion N o . 2008 NH 142 Town of Hanover
O R D E R
Plaintiffs Paragon Residential Group, LLC and Paragon
Residential Properties, LLC (“Paragon”) agreed to purchase a
parcel of land from co-plaintiffs James Leavitt and Louise Parker
(“the Leavitt family”) with the intention of building a planned
residential development on the land. Paragon and the Leavitt
family are now suing the Town of Hanover, alleging that Hanover
acted in bad faith to prevent the development project. The
plaintiffs assert four civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983, three claims under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28
U.S.C. § 2201, and six state law claims.
The court has jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C.
§§ 1331 (federal question), 1343 (civil rights), and 1367
(supplemental jurisdiction).
Hanover has moved for judgment on the pleadings. The court
heard oral argument on June 3 0 , 2008. Hanover’s motion for
judgment on the pleadings is granted as to counts four (procedural due process) and seven (Contracts Clause). As to the
remaining claims, the court denies Hanover’s motion without
prejudice.
I. APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD
Hanover has moved for judgment on the pleadings under
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(c). “The standard for
evaluating a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings is
essentially the same as that for deciding a Rule 12(b)(6)
motion.” Pasdon v . City of Peabody, 417 F.3d 225, 226 (1st Cir.
2005); see also Perez-Acevedo v . Rivero-Cubano, 520 F.3d 2 6 , 29
(1st Cir. 2008). The court views all well-pleaded factual
allegations in the nonmovants’ pleadings in the light most
favorable to the nonmovants and draws all reasonable inferences
in their favor. Zipperer v . Raytheon Co., 493 F.3d 5 0 , 53 (1st
Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 128 S . C t . 1248 (U.S. 2008). Although
the complaint “does not need detailed factual allegations,” the
allegations “must be enough to raise a right to relief above the
speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v . Twombly, 127 S . C t . 1955,
1965 (U.S. 2007); Perez-Acevedo, 520 F.3d at 29. 1
1 Until recently, the pleading standard for a motion to dismiss set a high bar for the movant, requiring that the complaint be maintained “unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” See Conley v . Gibson, 355 U.S. 4 1 , 4 5 , 46 (1957), abrogated by Bell Atl. Corp., 127 S . C t . at 1969. In 2007, however, the U.S. Supreme Court retired the “no set of
-2- II. BACKGROUND2
Paragon is a Connecticut-based developer. James Leavitt and
his sister, Louise Parker, live in Shrewsbury, New Jersey and
Enfield, New Hampshire, respectively. Together, the two siblings
own a 259-acre property on Greensboro Road in Hanover, New
Hampshire (“the Leavitt property”). In September 2004, after
researching the suitability of the site for a “mixed-use”
development, Paragon agreed to purchase the Leavitt property from
the Leavitt family. The municipal regulatory dispute that
subsequently entangled Paragon’s development plans is the subject
of this case.
On January 1 2 , 2005, Paragon met with Hanover Town Manager
Julia Griffin to preliminarily discuss its plans to build a
Planned Residential Development (“planned development”) on the
Leavitt property. Griffin encouraged Paragon to include a
Continuing Care Retirement Community (“retirement community”)
within the planned development. At the time, both uses were
expressly permitted by Hanover’s zoning ordinances, and Paragon
facts” formulation in favor of the standard quoted above, which requires more of the nonmovant. Bell Atl. Corp., 127 S . C t . at 1968-69. This new pleading standard applies to both Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss and Rule 12(c) motions for judgment on the pleadings. Perez-Acevedo, 520 F.3d at 2 9 . 2 As required on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, this statement of the facts treats Paragon’s allegations as true and draws all reasonable inferences in Paragon’s favor.
-3- believed that the project was consistent with the 2003 Hanover
Master Plan.
After a series of meetings with town officials and
residents, Paragon presented its development proposal to the
Hanover Planning Board on July 5 , 2005. The proposal consisted
of a planned development that included forty-five single-family
homes, forty-one townhouses, and a retirement community. At that
meeting, Town Planner John Edwards and Assistant Town Planner
Vicki Smith both voiced their disapproval of the project and the
development proposal.
Three weeks later, the Planning Board voted to adopt a new
“Four-Step Design Review Process” for new subdivisions, which
imposed significant new obligations on developers. The Planning
Board specified that this new procedure would be retroactively
applied to Paragon’s application. About two months after the
Four-Step Design Review process was adopted, Paragon submitted a
new application to the Planning Board revised to comply with this
new review process.
On October 1 1 , 2005, the Hanover Planning Office conducted a
staff review of the Paragon proposal but failed to provide
advance notice to Paragon. The notice was mailed to Paragon on
the Friday before the Columbus Day holiday weekend (October 7 ,
2005) and arrived the day of the review, which took place the day
after the Columbus Day holiday (October 1 1 , 2005).
-4- On November 1 , 2005, the Planning Board held a public
hearing on Paragon’s application. After the meeting, in an
exchange captured by the Town’s tape recorder, Edwards criticized
the project’s proposed density and argued that Greensboro Road
was inadequate to handle the anticipated increase in traffic. In
a discussion regarding certain off-site improvements, Edwards
suggested, “You can make [the off-site improvements] a
requirement of this developer. It’s a bit outrageous, but they
have -- would then have to face the choice, do they tie
themselves up in court for two years litigating it . . . or do
they just go ahead and [make the improvements at their own
expense]?”
Meanwhile, Paragon prepared two applications to the Hanover
Zoning Board of Adjustment: (1) a request for a special
exception to allow construction and mitigation within wetlands or
wetland setback areas in certain areas of the Leavitt property,
and (2) a request for a variance to allow Paragon’s retirement
community to have a gabled roof five feet higher than the
vertical height limit prescribed in the zoning ordinance. The
Zoning Board scheduled a hearing to consider both the wetlands
special exception and the height variance on November 3 , 2005,
but failed to give Paragon notice of the hearing. Because
Paragon did not learn of the hearing in time, consideration of
its applications was continued until December 1 , 2005. Although
-5- Paragon formally protested the lack of notice to Town Manager
Griffin and Town Planner Edwards, its protest was never
acknowledged.
The Hanover Conservation Commission scheduled a hearing to
review Paragon’s application for a wetlands special exception on
November 9, 2005, but similarly failed to give Paragon notice of
the hearing. Paragon managed to attend the hearing, however, and
the Conservation Commission approved Paragon’s wetlands
mitigation plan on November 1 6 , 2005.
On December 1 , 2005, Paragon arrived for the scheduled
Zoning Board hearing with three consultants who had traveled from
out-of-state to testify. The Zoning Board nevertheless continued
the hearing on Paragon’s wetlands special exception and height
variance applications a second time, rescheduling the hearing for
January 5 , 2006, because only three of the five Zoning Board
members were present. At the January 5th hearing, Zoning
Administrator Judith Brotman raised new concerns about the
requested height variance, forcing consideration of that
application and the wetland’s special exception to be continued
until January 1 9 , 2006.
At the January 19th hearing, Zoning Administrator Brotman
asserted that information in Paragon’s wetlands special exception
application was “either missing or not fully detailed,” though
she had not communicated to Paragon any requests for additional
-6- information. To address Brotman’s concerns, the Zoning Board
continued the hearing for about one month, until February 2 3 ,
2006. In response to Paragon’s objection to the continuing
delays, all Zoning Board members pledged to be present at the
next hearing.
The Zoning Board chose to consider Paragon’s wetlands
special exception just one week later, on January 2 6 , 2006,
without giving notice of its intent to Paragon. At that hearing,
not attended by Paragon because Paragon had received no notice of
i t , the Zoning Board voted to retain an independent consultant to
review Paragon’s Wetland Impact Analysis at Paragon’s expense,
and continued all further proceedings on the wetlands special
exception until this consultant’s work could be completed. (The
Town did not select the consultant, however, until June 2 6 ,
2006.)
On February 2 3 , 2006, Paragon and its out-of-state
consultants arrived at the Zoning Board hearing to find that
despite the Town’s January 19th promise to muster a full board,
only three members of the Zoning Board were present and voting.
The reduced-member board heard Paragon’s application for the
roof-height variance and took the matter under advisement. Two
weeks later, the Zoning Board voted unanimously to deny the
height variance. This decision was based in part on the Zoning
-7- Board’s conclusions that it had insufficient time to consider
Paragon’s application and that the $852,000 expense of
constructing a conforming non-gabled roof was “de minimis.”
Paragon then filed a timely motion for rehearing, which
(after a brief dispute involving the proper pre-printed form to
u s e ) , the Zoning Board denied without comment. Paragon appealed
this denial to the Grafton County Superior Court. That appeal
has since been stayed pending the outcome of this case.
Meanwhile, on March 1 4 , 2006, the Planning Board determined
that its Four-Step Design Review of Paragon’s application was
complete and that Paragon could now submit its documentation. In
response, Paragon prepared the necessary supplementary materials
documenting the completion of the Four-Step Design Review process
and attempted to deliver these materials to the Town on May 4 ,
2006. Town Planner Edwards and Assistant Town Planner Smith
refused to accept the delivery.3 Edwards yelled at Paragon’s
counsel in a threatening and belligerent manner until a nearby
Hanover police officer intervened and escorted Edwards away.
3 The Complaint does not make it clear why Edwards and Smith refused to accept delivery of these materials. The Town denies this allegation, alleging that Smith merely refused to sign a form that Paragon’s attorney asked her to sign in connection with the delivery.
-8- Paragon’s counsel later left the supplementary materials with the
Town Manager without incident.
During the same time period, the Planning Board reviewed and
recommended for voter approval a number of zoning amendments
which, if approved, would make it difficult or impossible for
Paragon to build the development it had planned. Many of these
amendments were approved at the annual Town Meeting on May 9,
2006. As enacted, the amendments prohibited the construction of
both Planned Residential Developments and Continuing Care
Retirement Communities in the district where the Leavitt property
was located, modified density calculations in a manner that
considerably decreased the maximum density for the Leavitt
property, and modified lot size and frontage requirements in a
manner that effectively prohibited Paragon’s development.
On May 3 0 , 2006, the Planning Board unanimously found that
because Paragon’s application did not comply with the newly
adopted zoning amendments, the application was “not complete.”
Accordingly, the Board voted to take no further action on the
application. Paragon appealed that decision to the Grafton
County Superior Court pursuant to New Hampshire law. The appeal
has been stayed pending the outcome of Paragon’s federal case.
-9- III. ANALYSIS
A. Procedural due process § 1983 claim (Count 4 )
Paragon alleges that the Town4 violated its Fourteenth
Amendment right to procedural due process by: (1) forcing
Paragon through unnecessary procedural hurdles at significant and
considerable expense, (2) subjecting Paragon’s application to
unjustifiable delays that prevented the application from vesting
and thereby creating an opening for the Town to enact contrary
4 As a general rule, a municipality cannot be held liable for injuries inflicted by its employees or agents unless they were carrying out a “policy or custom” of the municipal government. See Monell v . Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694 (1978). Hanover argues that Paragon failed to establish the existence of a municipal policy or custom. Paragon correctly points out, however, that single acts by government decisionmakers or policy boards may constitute official government policy. See Pembaur v . City of Cincinnati, 475 U.S. 469, 481 (1986) (holding that a single act by a government decisionmaker where that decisionmaker has “final authority to establish municipal policy with respect to the action ordered” is an act of official government policy for § 1983 purposes); Cordero v . De Jesus-Mendez, 867 F.2d 1 , 7 (1st Cir. 1989) (holding that the actions of the town’s mayor constitute the official policy of the municipality for § 1983 purposes). In this case, Paragon’s procedural due process claim concerns the Town’s zoning amendments and the application of the zoning regulations by the Zoning Board and Planning Board. The amendments to the zoning regulations are by definition policies of the Town. Meanwhile, the actions of the Zoning Board and Planning Board concern areas over which the two respective boards have policymaking authority. Thus, to the extent that Paragon alleges that the Town and its various boards took these actions collectively rather than alleging that particular board members took them individually, these actions are policy decisions for which the Town may be held liable.
-10- zoning amendments to block the project, and (3) amending the
zoning ordinance during the pendency of Paragon’s application in
a manner that forced Paragon to make significant, expensive
changes to its application.
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any state from depriving
“any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law.” U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 1 . To make out a procedural due
process violation, Paragon “must allege first that it has a
property interest as defined by state law and, second, that the
defendants, acting under color of state law, deprived it of that
property interest without constitutionally adequate process.”
PFZ Props., Inc. v . Rodriguez, 928 F.2d 2 8 , 30 (1st Cir. 1991).
As to the first prong, the Town does not dispute that
Paragon had a property interest as defined by state law. See
Cmty. Res. for Justice, Inc. v . City of Manchester, 154 N.H. 748,
758 (2007) (holding that “the right to use and enjoy property is
an important substantive right” under New Hampshire l a w ) . The
court therefore assumes without deciding that Paragon has
adequately alleged the first prong.
As to the second prong, First Circuit precedent is clear
that when an applicant’s claim is based upon a zoning board’s
circumvention or abuse of an otherwise valid permitting process,
his or her right to procedural due process is violated only when
-11- the post-deprivation process available to the applicant under
state law was constitutionally inadequate. See, e.g., SFW
Arecibo, Ltd. v . Rodriguez, 415 F.3d 135, 139 (1st Cir. 2005)
(holding that for a procedural due process challenge to a
planning board’s revocation of a land use permit, the inquiry
focuses on the adequacy of the post-deprivation, not pre-
deprivation, process); Nestor Colon Medina & Sucesores, Inc. v .
Custodio, 964 F.2d 3 2 , 40 (1st Cir. 1992) (holding that where
plaintiffs “do not challenge the facial adequacy of the [planning
board] permitting procedures themselves” but instead claim that
“officials, acting under the malign influence of the governor and
other politicians, violated and abused those procedures,” the
demands of procedural due process are satisfied by Puerto Rico’s
adequate post-deprivation process); PFZ Props., 928 F.2d at 31
planning board’s refusal to process necessary drawings, the only
question is whether the post-deprivation process was adequate).
This court has previously held that New Hampshire law
provides ample post-deprivation processes. E.g., Bourne v . Town
of Madison, 494 F. Supp. 2d 8 0 , 89 (D.N.H. 2007) (holding that
New Hampshire’s post-deprivation remedies in the land use context
satisfy procedural due process); Monadnock View Holdings, LLC v .
Town of Peterborough, N o . 05-cv-449-PB, 2006 WL 3750015, at *7
-12- (D.N.H. Dec. 1 9 , 2006) (unpublished) (holding that New
Hampshire’s post-deprivation remedies in the zoning context
satisfy procedural due process). In addition to having the right
to a rehearing by the Town, see N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 677:2
(2008), Paragon has the right to appeal “illegal or unreasonable”
decisions by the Zoning Board or Planning Board to the New
Hampshire Superior Court. See N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 677:4
(2008); N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 677:15(I) (2008). Although such
appeals are typically limited to a review of the record,
see Bayson Props., Inc. v . City of Lebanon, 150 N.H. 167, 170
(2003), the superior court does have the option of taking
evidence or appointing a referee to take evidence. See N.H. Rev.
Stat. Ann. § 677:13 (2008); N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 677:15(III)
(2008). Such evidence may be considered by the superior court
even though it was not before the relevant town board. Pappas v .
Manchester Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, 117 N.H. 622, 625 (1977).
This availability of post-deprivation process is identical
to what the First Circuit has found adequate in other cases. See
SFW Arecibo, 415 F.3d at 140 (holding post-deprivation process
adequate where the applicant had the right to petition the
administrative agency for reconsideration and to seek judicial
review in the courts of Puerto Rico); Licari v . Ferruzzi, 22 F.3d
344, 348 (1st Cir. 1994) (holding post-deprivation process
-13- adequate where the applicant had numerous opportunities to meet
with town officials to recover the promised permits, the right to
an administrative appeal, and the right to judicial review);
Nestor Colon Medina, 964 F.2d at 40 (holding post-deprivation
process adequate where the applicant had the right to petition
the administrative agency for reconsideration and to seek
judicial review in the courts of Puerto Rico); PFZ Props., 928
F.2d at 31 (same).
Paragon argues that New Hampshire’s post-deprivation
procedures are nevertheless inadequate because there was no way
for Paragon to file an interlocutory appeal of the Planning
Board’s imposition of the new design requirements on Paragon’s
pending application. This argument, while understandable, is
ultimately unpersuasive. In Licari, the First Circuit explicitly
rejected a similar argument that the available “remedies are
insufficient solely because relief might be delayed, and damages
are unavailable.” See 22 F.3d at 348. Here, as in Licari, the
mere fact that Paragon suffered damage from its inability to
immediately obtain relief does not mean that the procedures
available to Paragon were constitutionally inadequate. See id.
Paragon additionally argues that the post-deprivation
procedures are inadequate because they typically involve only a
record review that, Paragon argues, would not adequately explore
-14- the bad-faith nature of the Town’s actions. But as noted above,
it is within the superior court’s discretion to take additional
evidence if the court deems it appropriate. See N.H. Rev. Stat.
Ann. § 677:13; N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 677:15(III). Thus, it is
entirely possible (and, in this court’s view, even probable)
that, urged by Paragon, the superior court could choose to
explore and find bad faith behind the Town’s actions as alleged
in Paragon’s complaint.5
Paragon has failed to state a viable procedural due process
claim. Even viewing all well-pleaded factual allegations in the
light most favorable to Paragon and drawing all reasonable
inferences in its favor, Paragon has not alleged a violation of
its procedural due process rights that entitles it to federal
relief. The Town is therefore entitled to summary judgment on
Count 4 . See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(c); Perez-Acevedo, 520 F.3d at
29.
5 At the motion hearing, Paragon argued that it would probably be difficult to convince a state superior court judge to take such measures, and that this should cut against the adequacy of New Hampshire’s post-deprivation procedures. Even accepting Paragon’s characterization, however, this argument is unavailing. The court’s evaluation of the available post-deprivation process turns on the adequacy of the procedure in the abstract, not on speculation regarding the possible outcome of that process. See PFZ Props., 928 F.2d at 3 1 .
-15- B. “Contracts Clause” claim (Count 7 )
Paragon alleges that Hanover violated the Contracts Clause
of the Constitution by adopting zoning ordinance amendments that
impaired the previously-existing contractual relationship between
Paragon and the Leavitt family. See U.S. Const. art. I , § 1 0 .
The Contracts Clause prohibits states from passing any
“[l]aw impairing the Obligation of Contracts . . .” U.S. Const.
art. I , § 1 0 , c l . 1 . “The Clause is not, however, the Draconian
provision that its words might seem to imply. . . . [T]he
Contract Clause does not operate to obliterate the police power
of the States.” Allied Structural Steel C o . v . Spannaus, 438
U.S. 234, 240-41 (1978)(citation and footnotes omitted). That
i s , the power of state and local governments to “protect the
lives, health, morals, comfort and general welfare of the people
. . . is paramount to any rights under contracts between
individuals.” Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass’n v . DeBenedictis,
480 U.S. 470, 503 (1987) (quoting Manigault v . Springs, 199 U.S.
473, 480 (1905)).
To determine whether a state or local government has
interfered with a private contract in a manner that violates the
Contracts Clause, the court undertakes a three-step analysis.
Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v . Kan. Power & Light Co., 459 U.S.
400, 411-13 (1983). First, the state regulation must have
-16- operated as a substantial impairment of a contractual
relationship. Id. at 411. If a substantial impairment is found,
then a court must determine if: (1) the state regulation has a
significant and legitimate public purpose, id., and (2) the state
regulation is reasonably related to achieving that purpose. Id.
at 412-13.
A state regulation substantially impairs the contract at
issue only if “a contractual relationship exists, that
relationship is impaired by a change in the law, and the
resultant impairment is substantial.” Alliance of Auto. Mfrs. v .
Gwadosky, 430 F.3d 3 0 , 42 (1st Cir. 2005). Although the
existence and impairment of a contractual relationship are
generally easy to establish, the courts have more stringently
interpreted the requirement that the impairment be substantial.
Id. “The parties’ reasonable expectations are central to the
issue of substantiality.” Id. If the industry is one that has
historically been subject to regulation, then it is less likely
that the expectation that the contract would escape the
consequences of such regulation is reasonable. See Energy
Reserves Group, 459 U.S. at 416 (holding that because state
authority to regulate natural gas prices was well-established and
the relevant contracts recognized the existence of such
regulation, new price regulation “was foreseeable as the type of
-17- law that would alter contract obligations” and therefore did not
substantially impair the gas contracts at issue); Alliance of
Auto. Mfrs., 430 F.3d at 42 (holding that because Maine has
heavily regulated the automotive manufacturer-dealer franchise
relationship, the franchise agreements at issue were “executed
with the knowledge and expectation of pervasive state
regulation,” so that Maine’s regulation of dealer repair
reimbursement policies did not substantially impair the franchise
contracts at issue).
In this case, Paragon argues that Hanover’s 2006 zoning
ordinance amendments made it impossible for Paragon to develop
the Leavitt property as contemplated. The amendments therefore
substantially impaired Paragon’s land purchase contract with the
Leavitt family. Despite the financial loss the zoning amendments
caused Paragon, however, the zoning amendments did not “invade[]
an area never before subject to regulation by the State.” See
Allied Structural Steel, 438 U.S. at 250. In fact, it is hard to
imagine a field more subject to local regulation than land use,
especially where multi-unit developments and buildings are
concerned. Paragon should have known (and undoubtedly did know)
at the time it entered into the contract that local governments
have long regulated land use and that Paragon’s ability to build
the structures it proposed was contingent upon its compliance
-18- with local zoning ordinances. Indeed, the land purchase contract
explicitly contemplated the possibility that zoning ordinances
would impose at least some limits on Paragon’s construction
plans. Moreover, the particular topics addressed by the zoning
amendments -- prohibiting certain classes of uses, amending
density calculations, and amending lot size and frontage
requirements -- are wholly typical subjects for a zoning
ordinance to address. The land purchase contract was therefore
“executed with the knowledge and expectation of pervasive state
regulation.” See Alliance of Auto. Mfrs., 430 F.3d at 4 2 . If
Paragon wished to protect itself from the risk that planned
developments or retirement communities would be prohibited or
restricted uses, that the methods of making density calculations
would change, or that lot size and frontage requirements would
change, then it had ample opportunity to provide for such
possibilities in the contract rather than afterward seeking to
challenge Hanover’s power to enact such regulations.
Accordingly, Paragon’s claim fails on the substantial
impairment prong of the analysis. It is therefore unnecessary
for the court to reach Paragon’s argument that the zoning
amendments were motivated by something other than a significant
-19- and legitimate public purpose.6 Hanover is entitled to judgment
on the pleadings on the Contracts Clause claim.
C. Other claims
As discussed with the parties at the motion hearing, as to
Paragon’s remaining claims, the court denies Hanover’s motion
without prejudice to being revisited later.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, Hanover’s motion for
judgment on the pleadings is granted as to counts four
(procedural due process) and seven (Contracts Clause). As to the
SO ORDERED.
y^WkZgb Josfeph N.' Laplante United States District Judge Dated: August 8 , 2008
6 Paragon also argues that the zoning changes do not promote the general welfare and should therefore be struck down as ultra vires. See Cmty. Res. for Justice Inc., 154 N.H. at 754; Britton v . Town of Chester, 134 N.H. 434, 441 (1991). To the extent this argument implicates the Contracts Clause of the Constitution, it goes to the significant and legitimate public purpose prong and therefore need not be reached.
-20- cc: Robert H. Miller, Esq. Barry C . Schuster, Esq. R. Matthew Cairns, Esq. Andrew B . Livernois, Esq. Walter L. Mitchell, III, Esq. Laura Ann Spector, Esq.
-21-