Court filing
Exhibit I - E-mail — Agent Fee Litigation (Dkt. 73.9)
Summary
Exhibit I (Dkt. 73.9) in the agent fee litigation is a chain of e-mails among counsel in Sport & Wheat CPA PA v. ServisFirst Bank, sent on June 29, 2020 and June 30, 2020 about Truist's initial disclosures. The chain begins with counsel for Truist Bank circulating its initial disclosures. Plaintiff's counsel John Wirt then states that Sport & Wheat intends to seek a protective order under Rule 26(c), citing the accountant-client privilege in Fla. Stat. § 90.5055, over borrower names and financial information, and asks for a meet and confer. Defense counsel Jim Butler replies that plaintiffs should send the proposed order before any conference and argues that agency cannot be proved while the principals' names are withheld. The latest messages continue the dispute over whether a draft is required before conferring.
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Full text
Bill Cash
From: Jim Butler <jim@butlerwooten.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 18:38
To: jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com
Cc: 'Allen, M. Laughlin'; 'Logan T. Matthews'; 'Sara Anne Ford'; 'R. Ashby Pate'; 'Nathanson,
Paul J.'; pcwirt@wirtlawfirm.com; Bill Cash; Matt Schultz; Virginia Buchanan;
pbates@philipbates.net; Ramsey Prather; 'Haynes, Antonio M.'; chris.riley@alston.com;
'Barber, Kathryn M.'; 'Rottmann, Emily Y.'; 'Haas, Cheryl L.'; 'Rhymes, Theresa J.'
Subject: Re: Sport & Wheat CPA PA v. ServisFirst Bank - Truist's Initial Disclosures
CAUTION: This email
message is EXTERNAL.
How could we possibly know whether “what [you] are proposing is acceptable “ without seeing what it is?
You’re just going through the motions of conferring without actually making any real attempt to do so, all in an effort to
make this litigation as expensive as possible for defendants.
Please desist. If you want some kind of PO, send us what you want. Then we can consider it and confer.
Jim Butler
Jim Butler
From: jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 6:15 PM
To: 'Jim Butler'
Cc: 'Allen, M. Laughlin'; 'Logan T. Matthews'; 'Sara Anne Ford'; 'R. Ashby Pate'; 'Nathanson, Paul J.';
pcwirt@wirtlawfirm.com; 'Bill Cash'; mschultz@levinlaw.com; vbuchanan@levinlaw.com; pbates@philipbates.net;
'Ramsey Prather'; 'Haynes, Antonio M.'; chris.riley@alston.com; 'Barber, Kathryn M.'; 'Rottmann, Emily Y.'; 'Haas, Cheryl
L.'; 'Rhymes, Theresa J.'
Subject: RE: Sport & Wheat CPA PA v. ServisFirst Bank - Truist's Initial Disclosures
Jim:
I don’t understand why you continue to claim that Synovus has no idea who “Borrower C” is in the amended
complaint. While I certainly appreciate that Synovus did 20,000 PPP loans, how many PPP loans did Synovus do for
$163,303 for a medical group in Pensacola?
The Accountant/Client privilege (which is the client’s right to assert) in Fla. Stat. § 90.5055 is a legitimate concern that
needs to be addressed.
The point of the meet and confer I requested is to determine the scope of the protective order so we can file, hopefully,
an agreed motion, but if not, there is still the duty to confer before we file a motion. I am not aware of any requirement
under the local rules that requires me to send you a formal draft of a motion as a condition for conferring and I don’t
plan to do that busywork only to discover that what we are proposing is unacceptable and I have to go back to the
drawing board.
1
The motion we are intending to file would simply provide that S&W could designate information as confidential under
the Accountant/Client privilege and if so designated, that information could not be disclosed by any of the parties to the
action and that the court would oversee any violations of the order.
Earlier today I asked whether a 10 am call tomorrow works for a meet and confer, and I am again asking whether that
time is convenient. If so, I will circulate a call-in number.
Thank you.
Best regards,
John Wirt
From: Jim Butler <jim@butlerwooten.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 8:14 AM
To: jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com
Cc: Allen, M. Laughlin <MlAllen@mcguirewoods.com>; Logan T. Matthews <lmatthews@lightfootlaw.com>; Sara Anne
Ford <sford@lightfootlaw.com>; R. Ashby Pate <apate@lightfootlaw.com>; Nathanson, Paul J.
<paul.nathanson@davispolk.com>; pcwirt@wirtlawfirm.com; Bill Cash <bcash@levinlaw.com>; mschultz@levinlaw.com;
vbuchanan@levinlaw.com; pbates@philipbates.net; Ramsey Prather <Ramsey@butlerwooten.com>; Haynes, Antonio
M. <antonio.haynes@davispolk.com>; chris.riley@alston.com; Barber, Kathryn M. <KBarber@mcguirewoods.com>;
Rottmann, Emily Y. <erottmann@mcguirewoods.com>; Haas, Cheryl L. <CHaas@mcguirewoods.com>; Rhymes, Theresa
J. <trhymes@mcguirewoods.com>
Subject: Re: Sport & Wheat CPA PA v. ServisFirst Bank - Truist's Initial Disclosures
What are we to meet & confer about, specifically?
I presume about a “protective order” S&W “intends to seek.” If that is correct, please send to us the document you
propose to ask the Court to enter. We need to review the terms stated in that, first, before we an confer about its
terms. We need to review the terms because both your initial disclosures and your email below are unclear as to your
intent.
Depending on the specifics, it may be that a meet & confer Is unnecessary. You cannot prove any agency existed, and
thus cannot prove your case, while concealing the names of the principals for whom S&W supposedly acted as
“agents.” Similarly, since even if an “agent” was entitled to a fee, the prerequisite for such a claim is proof the principal
actually got the PPP loan, but if you won’t disclose the name of the supposed principals you cannot prove that
prerequisite.
Of course if it is the current position of plaintiffs’ counsel that they won’t disclose the names of the alleged principals,
that in is the exact opposite of the position your co-counsel stipulated to when we had a meet & confer in late May.
If that is your refined position, please dismiss the lawsuit you have filed with prejudice.
If not, then send the actual document you intend to ask the Court to enter, so that we have something to talk about at a
meet & confer.
2
Jim Butler
The information contained in this electronic mail message is attorney privileged and confidential information intended
only for the use of the individual or entity named. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are
hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of the communication is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by telephone at (800) 233-4086 or by reply email and
delete this message. Do not copy or distribute it to anyone other than the intended recipient.
On Jun 30, 2020, at 12:54 AM, "jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com" <jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com> wrote:
Counsel:
Please find attached the initial disclosures for plaintiff Sport & Wheat CPA PA.
In light of the accountant-client privilege (Fla. Stat. § 90.5055), S&W intends to seek a protective order
under Rule 26(c) regarding the disclosure of the names and confidential banking and financial information
of the borrowers who received PPP loans, including, without limitation, the borrowers’ average monthly
payroll and the amounts of the PPP loans funded.
Please let me know if you are available for a meet and confer at 4:00 pm CT tomorrow or whatever other
time is convenient for you.
Thank you.
Best,
John Wirt
847-323-4082
From: Allen, M. Laughlin <MlAllen@mcguirewoods.com>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2020 5:24 PM
To: Logan T. Matthews <lmatthews@lightfootlaw.com>; Sara Anne Ford <sford@lightfootlaw.com>; R.
Ashby Pate <apate@lightfootlaw.com>; jwirt@wirtlawfirm.com; jim@butlerwooten.com; Nathanson,
Paul J. <paul.nathanson@davispolk.com>; pcwirt@wirtlawfirm.com; Bill Cash <bcash@levinlaw.com>;
mschultz@levinlaw.com; vbuchanan@levinlaw.com; pbates@philipbates.net;
ramsey@butlerwooten.com; Haynes, Antonio M. <antonio.haynes@davispolk.com>;
chris.riley@alston.com
Cc: Barber, Kathryn M. <KBarber@mcguirewoods.com>; Rottmann, Emily Y.
<erottmann@mcguirewoods.com>; Haas, Cheryl L. <CHaas@mcguirewoods.com>; Rhymes, Theresa J.
3
<trhymes@mcguirewoods.com>
Subject: Sport & Wheat CPA PA v. ServisFirst Bank - Truist's Initial Disclosures
Counselors,
On behalf of Truist Bank, please see the attached Initial Disclosures in connection with the above
referenced case, which were also sent today by U.S. Mail.
Thank you,
Laughlin
M. Laughlin Allen
Associate
McGuireWoods LLP
Promenade
1230 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Suite 2100
Atlanta, GA 30309-3534
T: +1 404 443 5738
F: +1 404 443 5773
mlallen@mcguirewoods.com
Bio | VCard | www.mcguirewoods.com
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<sportwheat initial dis.pdf>
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File and source
- File
- gov.uscourts.flnd.190491.73.9.pdf
- Size
- 898,042 bytes
- SHA-256
- 011b968775dbca1a39f10e6a80884c304c1bd48bc98465299b5c7ee4c4c02702
- Original
- No public link identified.