Provider of investment banking services brought action against clients, alleging claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and misappropriation. Clients filed counterclaims for breach of contract and professional malpractice. Parties cross-moved for summary judgment.
Holdings: The District Court, Chin, J., held that:
(1) alleged lack of consideration did not preclude enforcement of addendum to
parties' contract;
(2) provider's rights under addendum were not limited to a transaction involving
a $300,000,000 senior secured credit facility;
(3) claim for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing was
redundant of breach of contract claim;
(4) clients did not misappropriate providers' trade secrets;
(5) provider was entitled to a fee for credit facility arranged during
exclusivity period by another investment banking firm;
(6) provider had no special relationship with clients giving rise to tort-based
duty independent of parties' contractual obligations, as would support malpractice
counterclaim; and
(7) existence of genuine issue of material fact precluded summary judgment for
provider on clients' breach of contract counterclaim.
Motions granted in part and denied in part.
578 F.Supp.2d 652
United States District Court,
S.D. New York.
DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES INC., Plaintiff,
v.
James M. RHODES, Sagebrush Enterprises, Inc., The Rhodes Companies, LLC,
Heritage Land Company, LLC, Rhodes Design and Development Corporation and
Rhodes Ranch General Partnership, Defendants.
No. 06 Civ. 413(DC).
Sept. 29, 2008.

