United States v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedMay 28, 2024
Docket4:12-cv-00543
StatusUnknown

This text of United States v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC (United States v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, (E.D. Tex. 2024).

Opinion

United States District Court EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION

OCWEN FINANCIAL CORPORATION § and PHH MORTGAGE CORPORATION § § Plaintiffs, § Civil Action No. 4:12–CV–461 § v. § § SAMUEL L. BOYD, BOYD & § ASSOCIATES, and JEAN-MARC § EICHNER § Civil Action No. 4:12–CV–543 § Defendants. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Pending before the Court is Samuel L. Boyd and Boyd & Associates’ request for the Court to enforce the Protective Orders and conduct an in camera review of certain documents. Having considered the request and the relevant briefing, the Court finds that Samuel L. Boyd and Boyd & Associates’ request should be GRANTED in part. BACKGROUND This matter involves two (2) qui tam cases that both terminated in 2017 (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #385; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #593). United States ex. rel. Fisher v. Homeward Residential, Inc., 4:12–CV–461 (E.D. Tex.); United States ex rel. Fisher v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 4:12–CV–543 (E.D. Tex.).1 Samuel L. Boyd and Boyd & Associates (“Boyd”) request that the Court enforce two (2) identical protective orders (collectively, the “Protective Orders”) to preclude the production of certain documents to Ocwen Financial Corporation and PHH Mortgage Corporation

1 All citations to docket entries within the two (2) underlying qui tam cases are preceded by a case number to indicate which case the docket entry corresponds to. (collectively, “Ocwen”) in litigation in Texas state court (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447). This matter began in the summer of 2012 with the filing of two (2) qui tam cases, in which

Boyd served as counsel to multiple relators (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #1; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #1). The relators alleged that Ocwen Financial Corporation, among others, violated various federal, state, and local laws in the residential mortgage industry (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #101; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #126). Both cases ultimately settled (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #327; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #528). To facilitate discovery in both cases and to prevent the improper disclosure of confidential information, the parties entered the Protective Orders. (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307; 4:12–CV–543,

Dkt. #447). Following the termination of each respective case, the Protective Orders required a party’s counsel to destroy or return protected confidential information that the counsel had received: Upon termination of this action, by dismissal, judgment, or settlement, and the exhaustion of all appeals, counsel for the Receiving Party shall destroy or return the Protected Information to the counsel for the Designating Party within ninety (90) days of termination of this litigation.

(4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 15; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 15). However, the Protective Orders allow a party’s counsel to retain their own work product, even if it refers or relates to otherwise protected confidential information: The Receiving Party shall keep their attorney work product which refers or relates to any Protected Information. Attorney work product may be used in subsequent litigation provided that such use does not disclose Protected Information. (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 15; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 15).2 Further, the Protective Orders provide the Court with continuing jurisdiction to enforce the Protective Orders: After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Order shall continue to be binding, except with respect to those documents and information that become a matter of public record. This Court retains and shall have continuing jurisdiction over the parties and recipients of the Protected Information for enforcement of the provisions of this Order following termination of this litigation.

(4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 14; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 14). Boyd claims that his co-counsel, Fish and Richardson, in the earlier cases possessed all documents produced and maintained a database containing said documents. Relators’ Mem. Regarding Ocwen and Its Counsel’s Most Egregious Recent Statements to this Court and the State Court, Ocwen Fin. Corp. v. Boyd, 4:23–CV– 408 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 19, 2024), Dkt. #32, Exhibit 10 at p. 8. Although Boyd did not maintain or obtain such a database, he claims that he had access to search and review documents in the database. Id. Boyd states that after the conclusion of the two (2) underlying qui tam cases, he collected, categorized, and kept a “small fraction” of the documents produced in the earlier cases “for purposes of other ongoing sealed claims and future litigation” (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #432, Exhibit 1 ¶¶ 20, 22–23, 25–27). The documents within this compilation have many different authors. These authors range from unrelated third parties, to Ocwen Financial Corporation, to

2 The textual interpretation of a court order is ultimately a legal question. Moore v. Ford Motor Co., 755 F.3d 802, 806 (5th Cir. 2014). The Protective Orders define “Receiving Party” as “counsel for [a] party” to “which [protected confidential information is] disclosed or produced.” (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 1; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 1). In a different paragraph, the Protective Orders indicate in a parenthetical that “Receiving Party” in the context of “Qualified Persons” includes “attorneys for the United States who are monitoring the litigation” (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 5(a); 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 5(a)). This distinction indicates that the term “Receiving Party” does not include attorneys for the United States when attorneys for the Relators received confidential information to avoid rendering the parenthetical superfluous (See 4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 5(a); 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 5(a)). Therefore, when counsel for the Relators is a Receiving Party, the work product they may retain does not include the work product of attorneys for the United States (See 4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #307 ¶ 16; 4:12–CV–543, Dkt. #447 ¶ 16). However, the selection of work product belonging to an attorney for the United States to include Boyd’s compilation of documents is a distinct matter. Boyd, to the Department of Justice (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #432, Exhibit 2). However, Ocwen and his fellow co-counsel for the relators (and their agents) did not author the vast majority of these documents (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #432, Exhibit 2). Further, he argues that this collection of 670

documents constitutes his attorney work product because the selection reveals “his mental process and evaluation of the most highly significant documents produced.” Relators’ Mem. Regarding Ocwen and Its Counsel’s Most Egregious Recent Statements to this Court and the State Court, Ocwen Fin. Corp. v. Boyd, 4:23–CV–408, Dkt. #32, Exhibit 10 at pp. 8–9. These documents contain over 27,000 pages in total, although many entries on Boyd’s privilege log do not provide a page count (4:12–CV–461, Dkt. #432, Exhibit 2).

On July 15, 2019, Boyd, acting in his representative capacity as an attorney, filed another qui tam suit against Ocwen Financial Corporation and others on behalf of his clients, Jean-Marc Eichner (“Eichner”) and Brandon Loyd (“Loyd”). Relators’ Compl. Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. §§ 3829–3732 (Federal False Claims Act), United States ex rel. Eichner v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 4:19–CV–524 (E.D. Tex. July 15, 2019), Dkt. #1). The relators alleged that the defendants violated various federal, state, and local laws. Relators’ Am. Compl. Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. §§ 3829–3732 (Federal False Claims Act), United States ex rel. Eichner, 4:19–CV–524 (E.D. Tex. Oct. 23, 2023),

Dkt. #114). This most recent qui tam litigation is still ongoing.

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Bluebook (online)
United States v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ocwen-loan-servicing-llc-txed-2024.