Taylor v. First Jersey Securities, Inc.

533 So. 2d 1383, 1988 WL 120123
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 10, 1988
Docket88-CA-0388, 88-CA-0861
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 533 So. 2d 1383 (Taylor v. First Jersey Securities, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. First Jersey Securities, Inc., 533 So. 2d 1383, 1988 WL 120123 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

533 So.2d 1383 (1988)

William Buck TAYLOR, III, M.D.
v.
FIRST JERSEY SECURITIES, INC., Cris Blackman, and Leonard Alsfeld.

Nos. 88-CA-0388, 88-CA-0861.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

November 10, 1988.
Rehearing Denied December 14, 1988.

*1384 Jacques F. Bezou, P.L.C., Trial Atty., DeRussy, Bezou and Matthews, New Orleans, for plaintiff/appellant.

Thomas K. Potter, III, Robert B. Bieck, Jr., Denise R. Krouse, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, New Orleans, for defendants/appellees.

Before BYRNES, WILLIAMS and PLOTKIN, JJ.

PLOTKIN, Judge.

Appellant William Buck Taylor III, M.D. appeals the trial court's granting of an exception of no cause of action in favor of appellees, First Jersey Securities, Inc. and Leonard Alsfeld. We reverse in part and remand.

Dr. Taylor brought suit against First Jersey, Alsfeld and Cris Blackman, a former First Jersey registered representative, alleging violations of the Louisiana "Blue Sky" Securities Law (Blue Sky Law), the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA) and Louisiana Civil Code articles 1930, 2315-2317, 2320 and 2324, in connection with Dr. Taylor's stock purchases. He alleged that Blackman used "high pressure" sales techniques and fraudulent misrepresentations to induce him to make a number of purchases of extremely speculative stock, despite his express statements that he wished to purchase only "high quality bonds." Specifically, appellant claimed that Blackman told him that First Jersey had a "fantastic *1385 research department" and that the network of First Jersey dealers could manipulate the stock they purchased for their clients and thus keep it from dropping. Dr. Taylor also alleged that he discovered the fraud after Blackman left his position at First Jersey and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when Blackman started making frequent telephone calls telling Dr. Taylor that First Jersey "practices illegal tactics in buying and selling stocks." Dr. Taylor alleged that, at all pertinent times, Alsfeld was Blackman's supervisor at First Jersey.

The petition concludes by alleging that Blackman's improper conduct "consisted of high pressure tactics, the sale of inappropriate stock, churning, numerous breaches of his fiduciary duty to the petitioner and fraud." Alsfeld should be liable, the petition stated, because he "knew and in fact encouraged the conduct of defendant Blackman, failed to supervise his activities, [and] failed to enforce any compliance on the part of defendant Blackman." Dr. Taylor sought recovery of his investments, plus treble damages and punitive damages.

First Jersey and Blackman filed an exception of no cause of action, alternatively motion for summary judgment, contending that Taylor had no cause of action under Louisiana's Blue Sky Law or the UTPA, that he had no cause of action for churning under any law and that he had no cause of action against defendant Alsfeld. The trial court granted the exception without written reasons. Dr. Taylor appealed, claiming the petition stated a cause of action for violations of the state Blue Sky Laws and the UTPA and that the petition stated a cause of action for damages caused by negligence and fraud.

Standard of Review

The purpose of an exception of no cause of action is to allow the court to determine the legal sufficiency of the plaintiff's petition. Darville v. Texaco, Inc., 447 So.2d 473, 474 (La.1984) (per curiam), reh'g denied, 448 So.2d 1302 (La.1984). The exception must be tried on the face of the pleadings and all well-pleaded facts must be accepted as true. Ermert v. Hartford Ins. Co., 480 So.2d 999 (La.App.4th Cir.1985), writs denied, 484 So.2d 672 (La.1986); La. C.C.P. art. 927. The exception must be overruled unless the allegations of the petition exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than the premise upon which the defense is based. Darville, supra. If it is possible for the plaintiff to adduce some admissible evidence which would entitle him to relief, the exception should not be granted. Id.

Louisiana Blue Sky Law

The Louisiana Blue Sky Law, LSA-R.S. 51:701 et seq., provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Sec. 712. Unlawful practices
A. It shall be unlawful for any person:...
(2) To offer to sell or to sell a security by means of any oral or written untrue statement of a material fact or any omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading, the buyer not knowing of the untruth or omission, if such person shall not sustain the burden of proof that he did not know, and in the exercise of reasonable care could not have known, of the untruth or omission.
Sec. 714. Civil liability from sales of securities
A. Any person who violates R.S. 51:712(A) shall be liable to the person buying such security, and such buyer may sue in any court to recover....

The above provisions have not been interpreted by Louisiana courts. In brief, the parties agree that parts of the Louisiana Blue Sky Law are analogous to provisions of the federal Securities Act of 1933 and that LSA-R.S. 51:712(A)(2) is analogous to Section 12(2) of the 1933 Act. Courts may therefore look to the federal law and jurisprudence interpreting the securities law for guidance in interpreting the Louisiana provisions. Gour v. Daray Motor Co., Inc., 373 So.2d 571, 578 (La.App.3d Cir.1979), writ granted 376 So.2d 1270 (La.1979), writs dismissed, 377 So.2d 1033 (La.1979).

The parties also agree that the plaintiff must prove the following elements to prevail *1386 in an action under Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933: (1) the defendant made a false or misleading statement of a material fact or failed to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statement not misleading; (2) the plaintiff did not know of the untruth or omission; (3) the defendant knew, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence, could have known, of the untruth or omission. Junker v. Crory, 650 F.2d 1349, 1359 (5th Cir.1981); Hill York Corp. v. American Int'l Franchises, Inc., 448 F.2d 680, 695 (5th Cir.1971).

Based on the above elements and assuming that all the allegations in Dr. Taylor's petition are true, we find that appellant's petition states a cause of action against Blackman under the Louisiana analogue to Section 12(2), LSA-R.S. 51:712(A)(2). Dr. Taylor made specific allegations (1) that defendant Blackman made false statements of material fact, (2) that he [Dr. Taylor] was unaware of the untruth of the statements and (3) that Blackman was aware of the untruth of the statements. Those allegations are sufficient to state a cause of action. The trial court's granting of the exception of no cause of action was in error because it is possible for the plaintiff to adduce some admissible evidence which would entitle him to relief under Louisiana's Blue Sky Law. See Darville, supra.

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Bluebook (online)
533 So. 2d 1383, 1988 WL 120123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-first-jersey-securities-inc-lactapp-1988.