Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.)

555 B.R. 579, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2709
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedJuly 26, 2016
DocketCase No.: 11-10353-RLJ-7; Adversary No. 14-01000; Civil Action No. 1:14-CV-095-C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 555 B.R. 579 (Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ries v. Ardinger (In re Adkins Supply, Inc.), 555 B.R. 579, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2709 (Tex. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Robert L. Jones, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Defendants to Answer Discovery, Dkt. No. 101. Kent Ries, Trustee of the Adkins Supply, Inc. bankruptcy estate (Trustee), and plaintiff here, served Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents on defendants, Mary Ardinger and the Estate of Horace T. Ardinger, Jr. (of which Mary Ardinger is executrix). After an agreed extension, defendants served Trustee with their answers.1 Trustee asserts that defendants’ answers are insufficient. Objections were lodged to all items save for Mary Ardinger’s full name and address. A few interrogatories were responded to, subject to objections, and defendants promised to produce a forthcoming marital property agreement. The answers are otherwise peppered with objections, all of which are improper, Trustee asserts. Many of the interrogatories are answered with the instruction to “See Exhibit ‘A’” — but there is no such exhibit attached to the answer. Finally, Trustee also asks the Court to prescribe the form of production. He argues that sifting through boxes in a warehouse should be unnecessary for the majority of the documents requested.2

Defendants respond that their “discovery objections were not intended to ‘jam’ the Trustee.”3 They argue that Trustee has failed to follow a prior order of the Court [Dkt. No. 85] that they contend controls the production of documents in this adversary. Defendants also explain that the missing Exhibit A was prepared at the time of responses but simply not converted to a PDF file or attached to the answer. A copy is included with then-response to Trustee’s motion; it includes [585]*585the personal information of those with knowledge of relevant facts and potential expert witnesses. The response supports some of their objections (mostly the tax return privilege) and details various documents they do intend to produce.

Hearing was held on the motion on April 13, 2016.

Background

Trustee’s complaint includes causes of action for usury, fraud, and fraudulent transfers (under both § 548 of the Bankruptcy Code and § 24 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code); Trustee also objects to the proof of claim filed by Horace Ardinger in the Adkins Supply bankruptcy case. The affirmative causes, as alleged, arise from a series of transactions from 2007 to 2010 between Robert Adkins (acting on behalf of Adkins Supply, Inc. and R.L. Adkins Corp.) and Horace T. Ardinger, Jr. The complaint states that the transactions involved hundreds of wire transfers of funds by Horace Ardinger to Adkins Supply with Adkins Supply, within a few days, “reimbursing” Ardinger the wired amounts with an additional 2 to 3% return on the wired amounts. The aggregate amount of the transfers over the time frame at issue, according to Trustee, exceeded $44 million; and the alleged total paid returns (the 2-3%) exceeded $4.2 million.

Adkins Supply filed for protection under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on September 16, 2011; the case was converted to chapter 7 on November 27, 2012. Ries was first appointed as trustee during the chapter 11 proceeding and continued on as trustee after conversion to chapter 7. On February 13, 2012, Horace Ardinger filed a proof of claim in the Adkins Supply bankruptcy case of $4,440,000 that is based on numerous theories stemming from Adkins Supply’s failure to fully repay its obligations under the fund transfers made by Ardinger. Horace Ardinger died in late December 2012. This adversary proceeding was filed on January 14,2014.

Discussion

If a party fails to respond to discovery requests, Rule 37(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows the requesting party to “move for an order compelling an answer.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(3)(B). For purposes of the motion to compel, any “evasive or incomplete ... response must be treated as a failure to ... respond.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(4): Successful resistance to discovery requires specific, well-supported objections. See McLeod, Alexander, Powel & Apffel, P.C. v. Quarles, 894 F.2d 1482, 1485 (5th Cir.1990); Fed.R.Civ.P. 33(b)(4) and 34(b)(2)(B). In response to a motion to compel, that party must “urge and argue in support of his objection to a request, and, if he does not, he waives the objection.” Mckinney/Pearl Rest. Partners, L.P. v. Metro. Life Ins. Go., No.3:14-cv-2498-B, 2016 WL 98603, at *3 (N.D.Tex. Jan. 8, 2016). Affidavits or other eviden-tiary proof are typically necessary to substantiate the objection. Id. Discovery responses that, without substantial justification, do not abide by the rules of discovery are met with sanctions. Fed. R.Civ.P. 26(g)(3) and 37.

I.

Privileges and the State Law Proviso

As a threshold matter, the Court must decide which privilege law to apply: federal or state. Of course, bankruptcy courts generally employ the federal rules of evidence and procedure.4 Rule 26(b)(1) [586]*586defines the scope of discovery as “any nonprivileged matter that is relevant.”5 The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, however, define neither privilege nor relevance; guidance on both is found in the Federal Rules of Evidence. Evidence Rule 501 provides that federal common law or federal statute governs claims of privilege, “[b]ut in a civil case, state law governs privilege regarding a claim or defense for which state law supplies the rule of decision.” Fed.R.Evid. 501. The quoted text is commonly referred to as the “state law proviso.”

A plain reading of the state law proviso is troublesome in this case, as it is for many adversary proceedings in bankruptcy courts.6 On its face, the rule appears, for example, to require that the Court apply federal privilege law for the federal fraudulent transfer claim and Texas privilege law for the state fraudulent transfer claim—both on the same evidence. This would be an “impractical” result. Hancock v. Hobbs, 967 F.2d 462, 467 (11th Cir.1992).

The fraudulent transfer claim under § 548 of the Bankruptcy Code and the objection to the Ardinger proof of claim are traditional, core bankruptcy matters. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334(b) and 157(b)(2).

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Bluebook (online)
555 B.R. 579, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2709, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ries-v-ardinger-in-re-adkins-supply-inc-txnb-2016.