Triple Five of Minnesota, Inc. v. Simon

212 F.R.D. 523, 2002 WL 31956122
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMarch 18, 2002
DocketNo. 99-CV-1894
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 212 F.R.D. 523 (Triple Five of Minnesota, Inc. v. Simon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Triple Five of Minnesota, Inc. v. Simon, 212 F.R.D. 523, 2002 WL 31956122 (mnd 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

LEBEDOFF, United States Magistrate Judge.

The above-entitled matter came on for hearing before the undersigned Magistrate Judge of District Court on March 12, 2002, on Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Production of Documents and Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Production of Documents Authored or Received by Defendant Randolph Foxworthy. The ease has been referred to the undersigned for resolution of pretrial matters pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and D. Minn. LR 72.1.

This litigation arises from a dispute between partners in business entities with ownership interests in the Mall of America. The business relationships are quite complex, and having been recited in previous orders, will not be described in detail here. The dispute arose from a transaction in October 1999 in which the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (“Teachers”) sold 50% of its interest in the Mall of America to Defendant Simon Property Group, Inc. Plaintiff Triple Five of Minnesota, Inc. (“Triple Five”) alleges that the sale was conducted without its knowledge through a collection of corporate entities controlled by or affiliated with the Simon family. Triple Five claims that Defendants breached fiduciary and contractual duties by usurping a business opportunity that should have been offered to it. Triple Five also claims that Defendants breached fiduciary and contractual duties when the Simon Property Group placed a $312 million mortgage on the mall in order to finance the Teachers sale.

[526]*526I. Triple Five’s First Motion to Compel

Triple Five seeks an order compelling Defendants to produce two categories of documents: notes and other documents related to meetings and other communications, and documents concerning the value of the Mall of America.

A. Notes and Other Documents Related to Meetings and Other Communications

With respect to the first category, Triple Five refers to several broad document requests (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 32, 33, and 34) in its moving papers. Similarly as broad is Triple Five’s contention that Defendants “have failed or refused to produce notes, minutes, memoranda, and other documents that memorialize or refer or relate to partnership meetings or other meetings and communications related to issues central to this litigation.” (PI. Mem. at 2.) The basis for this assertion is Defendants’ relatively recent production of notes taken at partnership meetings from 1995 through 1998 by John Wheeler, the Mall’s vice president, and by Arthur Spellmeyer, a senior vice president. Although Triple Five made the document requests in July 2000, the notes were not produced until just before the depositions of Wheeler and Spellmeyer in January and February 2002, respectively. Both Wheeler and Spellmeyer testified in their depositions that they were only recently asked to look for relevant documents. From these events, Triple Five infers that Defendants failed to thoroughly search for and produce all relevant documents. However, the only particular documents Triple Five specifies as missing are partnership meeting notes from Wheeler and Spellmeyer taken prior to 1995 and after 1998.

At the hearing, Defendants explained why Wheeler and Spellmeyer did not personally look for responsive documents after the requests were served in July 2000. Defendants’ counsel, Lawrence Field, stated that after he received the document requests, he and his “swat team” went to Mr. Wheeler’s office and conducted a search for relevant documents with the help of Wheeler’s assistant. Apparently, this search was not as thorough as Defendants would like the Court to believe, however, because the “swat team” obviously did not uncover the notes later produced by Wheeler and Spellmeyer at their depositions.

Consequently, the Court recognizes the likelihood that Defendants did not thoroughly search for and produce all responsive documents. Defendants are ordered to conduct a meticulous search for and produce all documents that memorialize or relate to partnership meetings or other meetings or communications concerning Teachers’ interest in the Mall of America; the transfer or recapitalization of Teachers’ interest; and financing related to the Mall. The Court agrees with Defendants that Document Request 4, regarding the Ghermezians and Shawn Samson, is vague and ambiguous and must be answered only to the extent required by the scope set forth in the preceding sentence. In conducting this search, Defendants must seek documents directly from the people involved. Furthermore, there is no preestablished relevant time frame, contrary to Defendants’ assertions.1 If documents are responsive to the subject matter of the discovery requests, they must be produced.

Despite the reason for the above directive, the Court realizes that the search may not yield any more documents. Indeed, Triple Five was hard-pressed to specify particular documents missing from production thus far. Unfortunately, given the vagueness of Triple Five’s motion, this Order must likewise be vague in scope. The Court declines to require Defendants to submit an affidavit certifying they have conducted a thorough search and produced all relevant documents. The circumstances leading to the Court’s prior [527]*527Order requiring such a certification from Triple Five are not comparable to the present dispute. Defendants must produce the information within thirty days of the date of this Order.

B. Documents Concerning the Value of the Mall of America

Triple Five asserts that Defendants have not fully answered Document Requests 11, 12, and 27. Specifically, Triple Five seeks appraisals created in connection with property tax litigation and a commissioned study of the Mall of America as a brand name. Defendants do not contest the relevance of the appraisals, but claim they do not possess the documents. The appraisals are located at the law firm of Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, which handles the Mall’s tax litigation. Defendants apparently do not contest the production of the commissioned study because they failed to brief the matter. (Def. Mem. Opp’n. at 3-4.)

The Court finds that all of the valuation documents now at issue must be produced by Defendants. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 requires a party to produce requested documents if they are within its “possession, custody or control.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 34(a)(1). The question, therefore, is not only whether the documents are within the physical possession of the party, but also whether the party has a legal right to the documents or practical ability to obtain the information. See Prokosch v. Catalina Lighting, Inc., 193 F.R.D. 633, 636 (D.Minn. 2000). Clearly, Defendants have a legal right to the documents and the ability to obtain the documents from their tax attorneys. Thus, the appraisal information must be produced. Finally, because Defendants have made no argument to the Court regarding the commissioned study, this material must also be produced.

Defendants must produce the information within thirty days of the date of this Order. The Court declines to require Defendants to provide a certification because the circumstances of this dispute do not warrant it.

II.

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Bluebook (online)
212 F.R.D. 523, 2002 WL 31956122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/triple-five-of-minnesota-inc-v-simon-mnd-2002.