Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 1 of 64
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT NOS. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff/Appellee,
v.
MICHAEL LAUER, Defendant/Appellant,
and
JOHN BENDALL, JR., & RICHARD GEIST, and MARTIN GARVEY, Appellants,
v.
MARTY STEINBERG, COURT-APPOINTED RECEIVER, Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 03-80612 CV-KAM
RECEIVER/APPELLEE MARTY STEINBERG’S OPPOSITION TO APPELLANTS’ MOTION TO REINSTATE APPEAL
Hunton & Williams LLP Attorneys for Marty Steinberg as Receiver/Appellee Sabadell Financial Center 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2500 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: 305.810.2500 Fax: 305.810.2460 Juan C. Enjamio FL Bar No. 571910 [email protected] Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 2 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED PERSONS AND CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1 and Eleventh Circuit
Rules 26.1-1 through 26.1-3, the undersigned counsel for Marty Steinberg, Court-
Appointed Receiver, hereby certifies the following is a complete list of the trial judge, attorneys, persons, associations of persons, firms, partnerships, or corporations that have an interest in the outcome of this appeal, including subsidiaries, conglomerates, affiliates, and parent corporations, including any publicly held company that owns 10% or more of the party’s stock, and other identifiable legal entities related to a party:
169642 Canada Inc.
170089 Canada Inc.
171212 Canada Inc.
175020 Canada Inc.
3421317 Canada, Inc.
375 Park Ave. LP
Abele, Sasha A., Esq.
ABSA Bank Limited
Acedon Fondation de Famille
Advantage Select Ltd.
C-1 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 3 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Aetna, Inc. [AET]
Ajial Holdings Limited
A1 Mashal Investment Enterprises Limited
Alford, S.A.
Allied Interstate, Inc.
Almarzook, Mohamed
Alpha Fifth Group
Alpha Omega Group Inc.
Alps Investment Fund
Altar Fund Ltd. (The)
Alter, Jonathan B.
Alter, Jonathan B., Esq.
Alternative Leaders S.A.
Amatra Investments Limited
American Express Company [AXP]
American Interactive Media Inc.
American Stock Exchange (The)
Anderson, Mark
Ansbacher (Bahamas) Ltd.
C-2 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 4 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Appleby Corporate Services (Cayman) Ltd.
Arngre Inc.
Arnold, Greg T.
Argo Partners
Arnold, Greg T.
Arrowsmith Fund, Ltd. (The)
Ascendant Fund Management
Asche, Richard M., Esq.
ASPI Europe, Inc.
Astolfi, Paul
AT&T Inc. [T]
AT&T Mobility LLC
Aug Corp.
Aura Systems, Inc. [AUSI]
Avalon Global Asset Management
Avison Company SA
AXA Alternative Strategies Fund Ltd.
Baesel, Jerome
Bailliere, Thomas
C-3 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 5 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Balleine, Brian
Banca Unione Di Credito
Banco Nominees (Guernsey) Limited
Banco Nominees (Iom) Limited
Bane, David, E., Esq.
Bank Hapoalim ( Switzerland) Ltd.
Bank Hofmann AG Zurich
Bank Jacob Safra (Schweiz) Ag A/C PWI Foundation
Bank Julius Baer & Co. Limited
Bank Leu AG Zurich
Bank of America Co. [BAC]
Bank of America Securities, LLC
Bank of Bermuda Limited (The) n/k/a HSBC Bank Bermuda Limited [HSBC:BH]
Bank of Bermuda (Luxembourg) SA RE
Bank of Butterfield Exec & TR
Bank of New York Mellon [BK]
Bank Sal Oppenheim Jr & Cie (Schweiz) AG
Banque De Luxembourg S.A.
Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild Europe (Luxembourg)
C-4 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 6 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Banque Privee Edmond De Rothschild SA
Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum Perlman &Nagelberg
Barbarosh, Milton H.
Barbatano, Salvatore A.
Barrack, David L.
Barrett, William J., Esq.
Barrie Jr., John G.
Barton, Tina
Barzee Flores PA
Base Force Ltd.
Bast Amron, LLP
Bast, Jeffrey P., Esq.
Batnet Inc.
Baum, Jack
Baum, Janet
Bear Stearns [BSC]
Beary, Patricia
Beaumont, Anne E., Esq.
Bendall, John W., Jr.
C-5 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 7 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Bennahaum Asset Management
Bennahaum Management Group
Benson, William
Berger Singerman, P.A.
Berman, James
Berman, Scott M.
Berry, Roger D.
Bessemer Trust Company
Beverly Negreann Ira Account
Biltrust Limited
Biometrics Security Technology Inc.
Binella Holdings SA
Blaylock, Esq., David
Blonsky, Daniel F., Esq.
Bloomberg L.P.
Blue, Neil A.
Bnp (Switzerland) Sa
BNP Private Bank & Trust Bahamas Ltd.
BNY Clearing
C-6 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 8 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
BNY Clearing LLC
Bombardier Trust (UK)
Boucher, Michel
Boxwood Securities Limited
Boyce, Caroline
Boyle, Martin E., Esq.
BPSS Cic Alternatif
Braithwaite, Kathyrn
Brandy Gonzalez-Abreu PA
Brisman, Judith
Broad & Cassel
Brock, Timothy T.
Brown, Delphine W. Knight
Brown & Heller, P.A.
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels
Brown, Jack
Bruhl, John L.
Bruno & Degenhardt
Bruno, Jane D., Esq.
C-7 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 9 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Bryan Cave LLP
Buckingham, Doolittle, & Burroughs, LLP
Buffalo Capital VI Ltd.
Bungey, Kate
Bums, Martin
Burlington, Robert K., Esq.
Burton, Bill
Buschel Gibbons, PA
Buschel, Robert
Buschi, Alex
Business and Trade Networks of Bennahaum Asset Management
Bustillo, Eric
Cable Road Investments Ltd.
Caceis Bank Luxemburg
Caisb
Callagy, Robert M.
Canada Life Assurance Company (The)
Cantor Fitzgerald & Company
Capital Research Group Ltd.
C-8 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 10 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Capital Research Ltd.
Caprio, Courtney Anne, Esq.
Carberry, John F., Esq.
Carens, Heidi
Carey, W. Ward
Carlson, Dwight D.
Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, LLP
Caruso, Michael
CBAS Global Hedge
CBG Compagnie Bancaire Geneve
Cedar Fund
Cendrowski, Harry
Central NY Cardiac Surgical Group MPP
Central Parking System
Cenveo, Inc.
Cerro Torre Capital Corporation
Cerro Torre Corporation
Chafatinos, Jeanine
Chagnon, Claude
C-9 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 11 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Charles Schwab [SCHW]
Chase, David R., Esq.
Chase, Tim
Chelovich, Peter
Chastell Foundation (The)
Chen, Vanessa
Chyten, Kenneth E., Esq.
Cimo, David C., Esq.
Circle Nominees Limited
Cirulnick, Riley, W., Esq.
CITCO
Citco Corporate Services Inc.
CITCO Fund Services Inc.
Citco Fund Services (Caracao)
Citco Fund Services (USA) Inc.
Citco Global Custody (NA) NV
City of New York (The)
City of New York (The), Department of Finance
Clearwater Commercial Enterprises
C-10 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 12 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Cloyd, Leslie G., Esq.
CNCA- Set Brunoy Sub A/C LCF
Coast Asset Management LP
Coast Asset Management LLC
Cobble Hill Associates, Inc.
Coffey Burlington
Cohen, Jenny F., Esq.
Cohen, Joshua W.
Cohen, Joshua W., Esq.
Colasanti and Scott Attorney Trust Account
Colson Hicks Edison
Combe Securities
Commerzbank Alternative Strategies
Commonfund Global Hedged Partners LLC
Computrac Inc.
Condor Alternative Fund, Ltd.
Connecticut Department of Labor
Connecticut Light and Power Company (The)
Conroy, Kieran
C-11 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 13 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Conyers, Dill & Pearman
Cooley Godward Kronish LLP
Corbett Family Charitable Foundat. Inc. (The)
Corbett, Richard A.
Cord, C.E.
Corder, Travis
Courter, Jeffrey W.
Courtney, Brian C.
Couture, Raymond J. CA
Cowen, Bruce
Cowen, Kathyrn
Credit Agricole Indosuez Luxembourg A/C Unicom
Credit Store Inc.
Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation
Credit Suisse Nominees (Guernsey) Limited A/C Gib
Credit Suisse Zurich
Crown Financial
Cypro International B.V.
David Nathan Meyerson Private Foundation (The)
C-12 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 14 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
David R. Chase PA
Davies, Michael G.
Decora Industries Inc.
Decton Limited
Delphi Global Ltd.
Demers, Susan V., Esq.
Demole, Claude
Deutch, Paul H.
Deutsche Bank Custody N.V.
Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited A/CSignet
Devon Trust (The)
DeYoung, Jim
Dick, David
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP
Digital Launch Mobile
Dillworth, Drew M., Esq.
Diversified Capital Management Ltd.
DLA Piper LLP
Dolik, Michael N.
C-13 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 15 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Dombroff, Robert M.
Dominion Income Management Corp.
Dresner, Milton H.
Dunand, Alain
East Hill Financial Group Inc.
E-Biz Jets
Ecare Solutions Inc. [ECSL]
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC
Eckhardt, Kevin. M., Esq.
Eckstein, Andrew B., Esq.
Economic Group Pension Services, Inc.
Edward, S. Nelson Ira
EES Funds
EES Investments Fund, LP
EFG Offshore Limited A/C 8501
Efg Private Bank SA
EFG Reads Trustees LTD A/C 8501
EFT Reads Trustees LTD A/C 8502
Eichelberger, Martin D.
C-14 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 16 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Elayne Herrick 2002 Irrevocable Trust
Elias, Jamie E.
Emmanuel Koltes
E-New Media Company Ltd.
Enjamio, Juan C., Esq.
Evans, Andrew L.
Environmental Corporation of America
Envision Development Corp.
Epstein, Neil G., Esq.
Equitable Payment Center
Equitel Communications Corporation
Equitel Inc.
Equitel Wireless, Inc.
Erb Family Investment, LP
Erickson, Brian W.
ESAT Inc.
Ethos Investments Limited
Euroclear Bank SA/NV
Europeenne D' Intermediation
C-15 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 17 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Evands, Andrew L.
Fbo Ais Holding Limited Series Trust
Federal Express Corporation [FDX]
Felicetta, Carol A.
FiberNet Telecom Group LLC
Fidelity First Financial Corp. [FFIRD]
Fidelity First Mortgage LLC
Fidelity First Mortgage Group LLC
Fiducie Desjardins
Fidulex Management Inc.
Field Nominees Limited A/C
Field, Stephen R.
First Corporate Sedans Inc.
First Trust Corp. TTEE Fbo
First Trust Corp. TTEE
First Trust Corporation
Fiskaaen, Nina
Fleet Bank
Fleet Small Business Services
C-16 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 18 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Flores, Hector
Floridaatt, Jerry U.
Fondation J. Armand Bombardier
Fondation Lilla
Fondation Lucie Et Andre Chagnon
Fontan, Suzanne
Fortis Global Custody Mgmt & Trtee Services (Ireland)
Fortstreet Nominees Limited
Fowler White Burnett
Fracasso, Robert G., Jr., Esq.
Frank, Philip
Fretter, Howard 0.
Fretter, Oliver L.
Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
Friedman, Theodore H.
FTI Consulting, Inc. [FCN]
Fund Nominees Ltd.
Furman Selz Inc.
FutureNet, Inc. [FUNN]
C-17 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 19 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Garvey, Martin
Gaunt, Kevin, Esq.
Geiger, William, III
Geist, Richard
Genetic Vectors Inc. [GVEC]
Genovese Joblove & Battista
Gershman, David
Gersten Savage LLP
G.H. Associates LLC
Gibb, Hugh
Global e Tutor, Inc.
Goldberg, Thomas D.
Goldenthal, Jack
Goldstein, Golub, Kessler LLP
Gonzalez-Abreu, Brandy, Esq.
Gordon, Andrew
Gottlieb, Lawrence C., Esq.
Goulam Investments
Graber, Garry M.
C-18 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 20 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Greenberg Traurig
Greenfield Partners
Gregory, Mark S.
Greilsheimer, Jeffrey, Esq.
Grevy, Jacqueline
Greyhawke Capital
Greyhawk Net Lease Investors II
Grossman, Scott M., Esq.
GtAlpha
Gunter, Crista
Gunther, Kevin E.
Guardian (The)
Gut, Stephan
Guzik and Asso Escrow Account
Halinvest
Halinvest, Sarl
Hardwick, Sarah
Harris Nesbitt Gerard
Hartman, Roy M., Esq.
C-19 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 21 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Hart, Meghan M., Esq.
Hauser, Eric
Heals Ltd.
Hecht, Leonard
Hecht, Thomas Esq.
Heer, Irene
Heffeman, John P.
Henderson, Judith
Hennig, Jeffrey
Henzy, Eric A.
Hermitage Capital Partners
Herrick, Howard
Hervey, Mary A., Esq.
Hill, Roger C.
Hinman, Brian L.
Hirsch, Hal M.
Hodgson Russ LLP
Hodkin, Adam J., Esq.
Hoffman, Jeff
C-20 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 22 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Hole In The Wall Gang
Holocaust Requiem Foundation
Hopkins, James M., Magistrate Judge
Houlihan, D’Arsey, III
Hsbc Guyerzeller Bank Ag
HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA
HSBC Republic
Huard, Joseph
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Humphries, James
Hunnicutt & Co., Inc.
Hunnicutt & Co. Inc. Defined Benefit Plan
Hunnicutt, William H.
Hunton & Williams, LLP
Hurwitz & Sagarin, LLC
IAN Settlement
Iconnect.com
I.C. Systems, Inc.
Inlaks Foundation
C-21 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 23 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Insignia/Esq
Instinet Corporation
International Isotopes Inc. [INIS]
IRA FBP William Hunnicutt Vftc As Custodian
Irish, Nina
Isicoff Ragatz & Koenigsberg
Israel Henry Beren Charitable Trust (The)
Isaacson, Laurence
Isolver.Com Inc.
J. Henry Schroder Bank Ag
Jaco, Paula
Jacob Dahle, Hans
Jewish Education Center
Jiranek, Andrew L. Esq.
Jiranek Company, P.A.
Johnson, Linnea, Magistrate Judge
Jordan, Anthony J.
Jordan, Hon. Adalberto
Joseph, Tromba & Janetta
C-22 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 24 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Joyce Sinclair Spousal Trust
JP Morgan
JP Morgan Chase Bank [JPM]
JRT Realty Group Inc.
Julin, Thomas
Kalisman, Gayle
Kalisman, Michael, Dr.
Kamensky, Andrew, Esq.
Kapila, Soneet R.
Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, LLP
Katsikas, Daniel J.
Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP
Katz, Barbara H.
Kaya, Flamboyan
Kayser, Robert
Kelly, James
Kelly, Jim
Kenmar Advisory Corp.
Kenmar Management Limited
C-23 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 25 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Kikousu Trust
Klein, Gary S.
Klitzberg, Richard
KMEFIC Prime Fund
Knight Securities, LP
Knight, Christopher W.
Knowles, Faye
Koenig, Lori
Kosowsky, J. Allen
KPF Investors Partnership
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
Kredietbank Luxembourgeoise
Krinzman, Huss & Lubetsky LLP
Krisch Actuarial Consultants
Krish Actuarial Consultants
Kuehne, Benedict P., Esq.
Kuwait & Middle East Financial Investment Company
Labiscouti Trust
LaBush, Gerald
C-24 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 26 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
La Compagnie Financiere Edmond de Rothschild Banque
Ladenburg Thalman & Co.
Ladenburg Thalman Financial Services (LTS)
Lalan, Christopher P., Esq.
Lancer Management Group, LLC
Lancer Management Group, II LLC
Lancer Offshore, Inc.
Lancer Partners, L.P.
Lancer Partners, LP Liquidating Trust
Lander, Harry
Larson, Robert C.
Lasertec International Inc.
Lasher, Brian
Lauer, Michael
Law Offices of Benedict P. Kuehne, P.A.
Law Offices of Marc David Seitles, P.A.
Leavers, Craig B., Esq.
Lehman Brothers, Inc.
Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. [LEHMQ]
C-25 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 27 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Lehmkuhl, Joakim
Leonard, Robert
Lerner, Alia
Lerner, Allan M., Esq.
Lescoat, Cecile
Letier, Scott
Levie, George
Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider & Grossman LLP
Levy, Ralph B., Esq.
L and G Investment Corp. Ltd.
L.H. Logarithm Holdings SA
Lilling & Company LLP
Lincoln Financial Group
Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York
Lincoln National Corp. [LNC]
L. Isaacson, Inc.
Litman Asche & Gioiella LLP
Livforsikringsselskapet Nordea Liv Norge AS
Lombardi, Richard
C-26 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 28 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Lombard Odier Darier Rentsch & Cie Geneva
Lovett, Robert B., Esq.
Low, Josiah O., III
Low, Timothy I.
Lowery, Kerry-Jean
Lowery, Marjorie
LSPV Inc.
LSPV LLC
Luce, III, Thomas W.
Lynn Cohen Foundation
Machinist, Bob
Mackay, John D. L., Esq.
Mackey, Steven E., Esq.
Madison Textiles Limited
Maestro Trading Inc.
Maffeo, J. Bruce, Esq.
Magnum Global Investments
Mahalingam, Sidhambaram
Maltz, Allen
C-27 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 29 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Maltz, Scott
Mango Capital, Inc.
Mangosoft Inc.
Mann, Martin, Esq.
Marcus, Kenneth
Marra, Kenneth A., Judge, U.S. District Court
Martin, Christopher, E., Esq.
Martineau, Fasken
Masureh, Stiftung Vaduz
Matrix Bond Fund Limited
Mattimore, John
Maum, Robert
Maza, Alan S., Esq.
McAliley, Hon. Chris M.
McHale, Gerard A., Jr.
Mellon Bank NA
Mendelsohn, Stephen A., Esq.
Mercury Trade International Ltd
Meridian Group
C-28 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 30 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Merrill Lynch
Meyerson 1999 Charitable Remainder Trust (The)
Meyerson, Morton H.
Millenium Health Card
Millionare.Com
Mirabaud & Cie.
Mirabaud Canada Inc.
Mirkin, Bradley L., Esq.
Miro, Jeff
Miro, Marsha
M M Warburg Bank (Schweiz) AG
Monaco, Nicholas
Moodhe, Joseph P.
Moon, John G., Esq.
Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners LP
Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund of Hedge Funds, LP
Morgan Stanley Investments LP
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Morin, Francois
C-29 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 31 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Morley Investments, Ltd.
Morton, Sherman
Moscowitz, Norman A., Esq.
Moscowitz & Moscowitz, P.A.
Mu, Sara
Mullen, Terence Michael, Esq.
Multivalor Invest Inc.
Murdoch & Company
Murray, Marguerite
Myers, Peter
Nantucket Capital MGMT, LLC
Natbony, William
Natexis Banques Populaires SA
National Bank of Canada
National Health Plan Plus Inc.
Naville, Christian
Neal R. Sonnett, PA
Needham Capital MGMT
Negreaan, Saul
C-30 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 32 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Neiwirth, Ronald G., Esq.
Nelson, Diane J.
Nelson, Edward S.
Nelson, Michael E.
Neuberger Quinn Gielen Rubin & Gibber
Neumann, Adele
Neurocorp Ltd.
Nevro Corp.
New York City Department of Finance
New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
Newma, Adele
Newman, David
Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd.
Nobilis Inc.
Nobilis, SA
Nordea Liv Norge AS, Controller
Norges Investor Long Short AS
Norges Investor Value AS
Northeast Utilities
C-31 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 33 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
North Shore Agency, Inc.
Nurik, Marc S., Esq.
NYS Department of Labor
Oakland Valley, Inc.
O'Callaghan, Anthony
O'Callaghan, Christopher
O’Callaghan, Mary
O'Callaghan, Patricia
O'Callaghan, Scott P.
O'Callaghan, Tony
O’Connor, Brian E., Esq.
Ogden Investments Ltd.
Okabena Marketable Alternatives Fund, LLC
Olson, Hon. John
OmniFund, Ltd.
O’Neill, Jeffrey
OnStar
Open Small Business Network
Opportunistic Strategy Fund (The)
C-32 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 34 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Opportunistic Strategy Fund For Benefit Plan Investors (The)
Options Price Reporting Authority
Orbiter Fund, Ltd.
Oria, Irene, Esq.
Oxford Health
Ozada, Enrich
Padell Nadell Fine Weinberg & Company
Padula Hodkin, PLLC
Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management
Pappas, Harry G., Jr.
Patrick, Jack B.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind
Pax Wholesome Foods
Paychex – EIB
Paychex – HRS
Paychex Inc. [PAYX]
Paychex TPS
Pearce, Robert Wayne, Esq.
Pension Committee of the Regime de Reraite de la Corporation de Ecole (The) C-33 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 35 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Pension Committee of the University of Montreal Pension Plan (The)
Persichilli, Susan P., Esq.
Petrovi, Doreen
Pfeifer, Andrew, CPA
Philip Louis Trading, Inc.
Pictet & Cie Banquiers
Pidgeon, George
Pigelet, Anne Chantal
Pierce, Ingrid
Pollack, David C., Esq.
Poller, Neale J., Esq.
Polytechnique
Press, Carol L., Esq.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Profin Associates
Profin International Advisors, Ltd.
Proskauer Rose LLP
Quality Dino Entertainment
Quilligan, Declan
C-34 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 36 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
R&H Fund Services
Rabbach, David J., Esq.
Raker, James
Rambaud, Jean-Christophe
Random Investments Inc.
Rand, William Coudert
Rapp, Michael
Rasile, Craig, Esq.
Raskin, Jane S., Esq.
Raskin & Raskin
Raymond, Mark F., Esq.
RBC Inc.
RCA in Trust
Redfield, Alice D.
Redfield, Peter S.
Redgape, Russell
Redmond, Patricia A., Esq.
Regent Capital Trust Corporation Limited
Regent Trust Co., Ltd (The), R41 Account
C-35 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 37 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Regime De Rentes Du Mouvement Desjardins
Re Liberty Ermitage N. A. Absolute Fund
Reuters America Inc.
Reynolds, Robert F., Esq.
RFR Realty LLC
Rice Pugatch Robinson & Schiller, P.A.
Richman Greer, P.A.
Riggs, Richard
Risk Management Alternatives, Inc.
Ritlow Property Development Corp.
Robert M. Beren Hedge Fund LLC
Robinson & Co
Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Aronsohn & Berman
Rock Nominees Limited
Rogers, Michael
Roher, Mark Stuart, Esq.
Romance, Mark A., Esq.
Romano Eriksen Cronin Mullins
Romano, John F.
C-36 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 38 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Romulus Invest N.V.
Ronco, Christopher
Rosenthal, Michael
Rothschild et Cie Banque
Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler
Rotman, Keith
Round Enterprises Ltd.
Royal Bank of Canada (Suisse) [RY]
Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (International) Limited
Rubens, Robin J., Esq.
Rubinson, Mitchell
RX Technology Holdings Inc.
Rye, Jonathan K.
Saavedra, Pelosi, Goodwin & Hermann, APA
Sacher, Zelman, Hartman, Paul, Beiley & Sacher, P.A.
Sale & Groothius LLP
Sale, Jon A., Esq.
Sale, Robert, Esq.
Sale, Rick
C-37 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 39 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Sale & Weintraub, P.A.
Santaguida, Marylou
Salzberg, Mark A., Esq.
SARL
Sasha Katz, PL
Saulnier, Jean-Maurice
SBC SNET
Schaan, Emil Frick
Schillace, Salvatore
Schmidt, John E.
Schimkat, Harold E.
Schoeppl & Burke, P.A.
Schoeppl, Carl Francis, Jr., Esq.
Scott, Stephen T.
Seabolt, Scott T.
Seagram Bldg.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Seitles, Marc D., Esq.
Sentient Jet, Inc.
C-38 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 40 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Service Max Inc.
Setz, Bruno B.
Seven Seas Portfolio A Ltd.
Shaffer, Fred
Shamrock Partners, Ltd.
Shorenstein, Douglas W.
Shutts & Bowen
Siegel, Howard L., Esq.
Siegel, Jefrrey, S., Esq.
Sills, Cummis, & Gross, P.C.
Sil Nominees Limited
Silver, Jack
Simisa International/Iscandar Inc.
Sindler, Trisha D., Esq.
Singer, Paul
Skalka, Douglas, Esq.
Skees, Suzanne R.
Skynet Holdings Inc.
Slatkin & Reynolds PA
C-39 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 41 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Smith, Kevin
Snyder, Jay
Sojecci Ltee
Solomon, Zauderer, Ellenhom, Frischer, and & Sharp
Sonnett, Neal Russell, Esq.
Sorkin, Ira Lee, Esq.
Soundview Financial Group, Inc.
Southwest Credit Systems, L.P.
Space, Loral
Spears, Bryan
SPGP Private French Clients
SPH Investments
Spitzer & Feldman P.C.
S S Trust
Stafford Fund, Ltd. (The)
Stahl, Douglas, Esq.
Standard Bank Nominees (Iom) A/C SDCLT
Standard Parking Corp. [STAN]
Stanford Resources (US) Ltd.
C-40 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 42 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Starvest Funds, Ltd.
State of Connecticut Department of Revenue Services
State Street Trustees (Guernsey) Limited
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson
Steinberg, Marty, Esq.
Stein & Rotman
Stenton Leigh Capital Corp.
Stenton Leigh Group Inc.
Sterling Technology Partners
Stewart, Collins
St Germain, Jo-Anne
Stinas, Nicolas E.
Stocker, Lawrence L.
Stone Path Group Inc.
Stott Nominees Limited A/C
Stroock Stroock & Lavan LLP
Swerdloff, Nicolas, Esq.
Tabas, Freedman, Soloff, Miller & Brown, P.A.
Tatum, Tim
C-41 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 43 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Team Haas USA Ltd.
Teledata World Services Inc. [TWOS]
Teledate World Services Inc.
Ternes, Stephen J.
Thomas Kimble Assoc Trust AC
Thompsop, Elizabeth
Thornhill Group, Inc.
Torre Corporation
Total Film Group Inc.
Total Media Corp.
Trident Technology Partners
Trinity 3 Corporation ASPI Europe Inc.
Tropin, Harley S., Esq.
Trotman, Stanley, Jr.
Trust Estate of Irene Nelson
Tsakni, Jimmy
Tuchman, Kenneth D.
Tucker, Fiduciaire
Ubs (Cayman Islands) Ltd Ref Oxalis
C-42 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 44 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
UBS Asset Recovery Group
UBS Warburg
Underground Solutions Inc. [UGSI]
UnitedHealth Group
United States
United States Treasury
Universal Builders Supply, Inc., R.A.
Upshaw, Anthony, Esq.
U.S. Internal Revenue Service
U.S. Plastic Lumber Corp.
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
U.S. Trustee
Van Kasper & Company
Vaughan, MD. James E.
VDC Communications Inc.
Velasquez, Mark
Venere Investments Ltd.
Verizon Wireless
Veronique Inc.
C-43 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 45 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Vesta Forsikring AS
VestaLiv SA
Viator Fund, Ltd.
Victoria Montgomery
Vittorio Mosca
Von Graffenried, Simone
Wachovia Bank
Wagner & Brown, Ltd.
Wagner, Cyril
Walkers
Walkers, Simon Pascoe
Wallace, Paul
Walsingham Fund Limited
Ward, Ellen
Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum
Weinberg &Company PA
Weinberg, Elliot
Weinberger, Imre
Wenik, Jack
C-44 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 46 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Westwind Foundation Holdings Ltd.
Weyerhaeuser Master Retirement Trust
Willard, Dean M.
Williams, Gregory H.
Williams, Hon. Kathleen
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Wilson Elser Moscowitz
Wilson, Jacqueline
Wireless Communications
WJB Chiltern Nominees Ltd.
Wolff, Dylan
Wolf, John
Woodward, Rebecca
Workman, Esq., Donald
Wright, Robert T., Jr., Esq.
Wrobleski, Nicole P., Esq.
Wyatt, Richard
Wyman, Andrew D., Esq.
Xerox Capital Services
C-45 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 47 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Xtracard Corp.
Xtraacard Services, Inc.
Zale, Donald
Zaron, Andrew D., Esq.
Ziegler, Richard G.
Zinn, Kerry Anne, Esq.
Zloch, Hon. William J.
Zoref CPA PC, Harold
Zysk, Jamie L.
C-46 of 46
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 48 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Table of Contents
Certificate of Interested Persons and Corporate Disclosure Statement ...... C-1
Table of Authorities ...... ii
Opposition ...... 1
I. The Reinstatement Motion Should Be Denied Because The Appellants Failed To File The Required Curative Brief And Appendix ...... 1
II. The Reinstatement Motion Should Be Denied Because The Appellants Failed To Establish Extraordinary Circumstances Justifying Their Defaults ...... 2
Conclusion ...... 13
Certificate of Service ...... 14
i
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 49 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Table of Authorities
Page(s)
Cases Advanced Estimating System, Inc. v. Riney, 130 F.3d 996 (11th Cir. 1997) ...... 3, 4, 7
Barber v. American Security Bank, 841 F.2d 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1988) ...... 8
Guam Sasaki Corp. v. Diana’s Inc., 881 F.2d 713 (9th Cir. 1989) ...... 8 Helton v. Secretary for the Department of Corrections, 259 F.3d 1310 (11th Cir. 2001) ...... 2, 3 Kushner v. Winterthur Swiss Ins. Co., 620 F.2d 404 (3d Cir. 1980) ...... 8
Link v. Wabash Railroad Co., 370 U.S. 626, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962) ...... 7 Pioneer Inv. Servs. Co. v. Brunswick Assocs. Ltd., 507 U.S. 380, 113 S.Ct. 1489, 123 L.Ed.2d 74 (1993)...... 11 RLI Insurance Co. v. JDJ Marine, Inc., 716 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2013) ...... 8
Sandvik v. United States, 177 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 1999) ...... 3 Steed v. Head, 219 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2000) ...... 3 Young v. City of Palm Bay, Florida, 358 F.3d 859 (11th Cir. 2004) ...... 9, 11
Other Authorities Local Rule 27-3 ...... 5 ii
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 50 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
Local Rule 42-2(d) ...... 4, 5, 6, 9
Local Rule 42-2(e) ...... passim
iii
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 51 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
OPPOSITION Appellee Marty Steinberg, Esq., Court-appointed receiver (the “Receiver”) for Lancer Management Group, LLC, Lancer Management Group II, LLC, Lancer
Offshore, Inc., Omnifund, Ltd., LSPV, Inc., LSPV, LLC, Alpha Omega Group,
Inc., CLR Associates, LLC, and G.H. Associates, LLC, through undersigned counsel, respectfully submits this opposition to the Motion to Reinstate Appeal
(the “Reinstatement Motion”) filed by the Appellants on December 5, 2016. The
Receiver submits that the Reinstatement Motion fails to satisfy the requirements or to respect the spirit of Local Rule 42-2(e), and should therefore be denied.
I. The Reinstatement Motion Should Be Denied Because The Appellants Failed To File The Required Curative Brief And Appendix
As a threshold matter, Local Rule 42-2(e) requires that an appellant seeking reinstatement of an appeal submit with their motion “the required brief and appendix.” The Appellants have filed a brief and appendix; however, the brief egregiously disregards the Court’s directives in the July 26, 2016 dismissal and consolidation order. That order directs the Appellants to file a consolidated brief addressing only the district court’s November 24, 2015 and March 31, 2016 orders.
However, the brief filed by the Appellants addresses a number of other, earlier orders, including orders from 2005 relating to Lauer’s personal funds (Brief at 44-
45); orders approving the Receiver’s actions “[f]rom mid-2003 to 2008, before
1
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 52 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 there was a judgment” against Lauer (Brief at 47); and, most notably, the order appointing the Receiver in July 2003 and resulting removal of directors (Brief at
56-62, 67-71). The Appellants devote six pages of the brief to rearguing their two previously-denied motions to reconsider the dismissal order. See Brief at 50-56.
More than twenty pages of the brief are dedicated to the Appellants’ argument that the dismissal order and the receivership order were both improper, despite the fact that the Court has repeatedly upheld the dismissal order and that Lauer himself consented to the appointment of the Receiver in 2003. This is not the brief the
Court directed the Appellants to file by November 1, 2016 after denial of the first motion for reconsideration. A brief blatantly disregarding this Court’s orders should not suffice for Local Rule 42-2(e) purposes.
II. The Reinstatement Motion Should Be Denied Because The Appellants Failed To Establish Extraordinary Circumstances Justifying Their Defaults
Even if the Appellants have filed the required curative brief and appendix,
Local Rule 42-2(e) also requires that the Appellants establish “extraordinary circumstances” justifying their failure to comply with this court’s briefing schedule and local rules. Although this Court has not published decisions interpreting this standard in the Rule 42-2(e) context, it has issued many decisions on an identically-phrased and analogous standard applicable to equitable tolling of deadlines for the filing of habeas corpus petitions. See e.g. Helton v. Secretary for
2
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 53 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 the Department of Corrections, 259 F.3d 1310 (11th Cir. 2001) (“Equitable tolling can be applied to prevent the application of the AEDPA’s statutory deadline when
‘extraordinary circumstances’ have worked to prevent an otherwise diligent petitioner from timely filing his petition”). In that context, the Court has repeatedly found that a petitioner’s attorney’s mistake or negligence, including miscalculation of the applicable limitations period, does not provide sufficient
“extraordinary circumstances” for equitable tolling in favor of the petitioner. See id. at 1313; Steed v. Head, 219 F.3d 1298, 1300 (11th Cir. 2000); Sandvik v. United
States, 177 F.3d 1269, 1272 (11th Cir. 1999). “Any miscalculation or misinterpretation by [petitioner’s] attorney in interpreting the plain language of the statute does not constitute an extraordinary circumstance sufficient to warrant equitable tolling.” Steed, 219 F.3d at 1300.
This approach is consistent with this Court’s decisions interpreting the more lenient “excusable neglect” standard for failing to comply with statutory filing deadlines. In that context, this Court has held that, as a matter of law, “an attorney’s misunderstanding of the plain language of a rule cannot constitute excusable neglect such that a party is relieved of the consequences of failing to comply with a statutory deadline.” See Advanced Estimating System, Inc. v. Riney,
130 F.3d 996, 998 (11th Cir. 1997). As this Court stated in Riney:
3
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 54 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
[A] lawyer’s misunderstanding of clear law cannot constitute excusable neglect. If it could, almost every appellant’s lawyer would plead his own inability to understand the law when he fails to comply with a deadline. We do not believe that the Court intended a practice that would require courts to be that lenient about disobedience to plain law.
Id. This Court in Riney distinguished between mistakes of fact, such as confusion regarding notice, and mistakes of law, such as an attorney’s failure to review or understand deadlines in statutes or rules. See id. at 999. The latter cannot, as a matter of law, qualify as excusable neglect. See id. “[T]he reason for [appellant’s] failure to file timely a notice of appeal was an apparent failure to review or to appreciate the relevant rules … The ancient legal maxim continues to apply: ignorance of fact may excuse; ignorance of law does not excuse.” Id.
The Reinstatement Motion is based entirely on a mistake of law by the
Appellants and their counsel – failure to comprehend the unambiguous implications of Local Rule 42-2(d) – and thus cannot satisfy the excusable neglect standard, let alone the more stringent extraordinary circumstances standard. The relevant facts are undisputed: on July 26, 2016, this Court entered the sua sponte order dismissing a portion of Appellants’ appeals in Case Nos. 15-15635 and 15-
15636 on jurisdictional grounds. In this order, the Court also directed the
Appellants to address only certain November 2015 and March 2016 orders in their
4
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 55 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 consolidated initial brief. Instead of complying with this order, the Appellants filed their first motion for reconsideration. With the consent of the Receiver, the
Court stayed briefing in these appeals pending a decision on the first reconsideration motion. On September 22, 2016, the Court denied the first reconsideration motion, and the Clerk issued a notice stating that “the Appellants’ initial brief is due forty (40) days from this date, on or before November 01, 2016, with the appendix due no later than seven days from the filing of the brief” (bold, underlining, and italics original). Instead of filing a brief in compliance with the schedule, the Appellants filed a groundless second motion for reconsideration and requested another stay of briefing while this improper motion was considered. The
Receiver adamantly opposed this second reconsideration motion as improper under
Local Rule 27-3, and specifically objected to any stay or extension of the
November 1, 2016 briefing deadline. The Court did not adjust the existing briefing schedule, and the Appellants failed to file their brief or appendix before the deadline passed. They thus ran the risk that their second request to stay briefing in the second reconsideration motion would be denied after the deadline and the
Clerk would be required to dismiss the appeals, as required by the clear and unambiguous terms of Local Rule 42-2(d).
5
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 56 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
This is precisely what transpired. On November 22, 2016, the Court entered an order denying the second reconsideration motion and the Appellants’ related request for stay of briefing. Because the Appellants had not filed their brief or appendix by the original deadline, the Clerk properly dismissed these appeals for failure to prosecute in accordance with Local Rule 42-2(d).
The Appellants have failed to provide any explanation for their failure to timely file their brief and appendix notwithstanding the clear language of Local
Rule 42-2(e). The only indication of their thinking is in footnote 2 to their withdrawn November 30, 2016 motion to revoke the mandate, which indicates that the Appellants “delayed filing their brief because they were seeking reconsideration and clarification of an order of this Court that severely limited their appeal.” Dismissal despite this strategy was not an “extraordinary circumstance” or even reasonably unforeseeable – it is the exact situation contemplated by Local
Rule 42-2(d), and the exact risk accepted by the Appellants when they relied on the improper second reconsideration motion without timely filing a brief and appendix.
Failure to review or understand the clear language of Local Rule 42-2(d) is the only plausible explanation for the Appellants’ failure to timely file their briefs and appendix under these facts. This garden-variety ignorance of the law cannot
6
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 57 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 qualify as excusable neglect, much less justify reinstatement under the extraordinary circumstances standard of Rule 42-2(e). See Riney, 130 F.3d at 998.
Recognizing the absence of extraordinary circumstances justifying their disregard for the Court’s briefing deadlines and rules, the Appellants instead base the Reinstatement Motion on a plea for leniency, citing the supposed merits of their brief, the purported constitutional importance of their arguments, and the responsibility of the Receiver and the Court for their errors. Of course, it is true that, as the Appellants state in the Reinstatement Motion, “the Court possesses the jurisdiction to vacate the dismissals.” See Reinstatement Motion at 12. However, the opposite is also true. Whatever the merits or importance of these appeals – and the Receiver argues that the merits are lacking and the spirit of the Constitution undimmed – this Court unquestionably has the authority to dismiss for failure to prosecute based on the Appellants’ egregious disregard for the Court’s prior rulings, orders, rules, and procedures. See Link v. Wabash Railroad Co., 370 U.S.
626, 630, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 1388, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962) (finding that a federal court’s authority to dismiss for want of prosecution “is necessary in order to prevent undue delays in the disposition of pending cases and to avoid congestion” in the court’s
7
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 58 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 calendar).1 Other federal courts of appeal have recognized the importance of the dismissal sanction as a tool to ensure compliance with local rules and have accordingly rejected pleas for leniency similar to those advanced by the
Appellants. See RLI Insurance Co. v. JDJ Marine, Inc., 716 F.3d 41, 42-45 (2d
Cir. 2013); Guam Sasaki Corp. v. Diana’s Inc., 881 F.2d 713, 716-19 (9th Cir.
1989); Barber v. American Security Bank, 841 F.2d 1159, 1160-62 (D.C. Cir.
1988); Kushner v. Winterthur Swiss Ins. Co., 620 F.2d 404, 405-08 (3d Cir. 1980).
As this Court stated in reviewing a district court’s dismissal sanction:
In the courts, there is room for only so much lenity. The district court must consider the equities not only to plaintiff and his counsel, but also to the opposing parties and counsel, as well as to the public, including those persons affected by the court’s increasingly crowded docket. Counsel must take responsibility for the obligations to which he committed and get the work done by the deadline … Deadlines are not meant to be aspirational; counsel must not treat the goodwill of the court as a sign that, as long as counsel tries to act, he has carte blanche permission to perform when he desires. A
1 The Appellants continue to insist that dismissal of these appeals somehow qualifies as a “forfeiture” of their constitutional right to due process. But the Appellants have clearly been provided with due process – they had the opportunity to seek reconsideration of the sua sponte order (twice), they had notice of the briefing deadline and the Court’s local rules that led to dismissal, and they are now being afforded the opportunity to establish “extraordinary circumstances” justifying reinstatement of their appeals. The Appellants’ persistent invocations of “due process,” in both their procedural motions and their brief, do not justify treating these appeals as constitutional imperatives.
8
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 59 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
district court must be able to exercise its managerial power to maintain control over its docket.
Young v. City of Palm Bay, Florida, 358 F.3d 859, 864 (11th Cir. 2004).
This rationale applies equally in the instant appeals. If the merits of these appeals are so compelling and crucial for our constitutional system of government, then the Appellants and their counsel should have taken every step to ensure they were timely asserted in compliance with this Court’s rules and orders. As the
Appellants themselves assert, “[a] strong adversary system is what the court system is all about.” See Reinstatement Motion at 12. But the Appellants and their counsel failed to take responsibility for their positions by timely filing their brief in accordance with the dismissal order and the first order denying reconsideration, instead relying on the improper and frivolous second motion to reconsider. The ramifications of this strategy under Local Rule 42-2(d) were clear and unmistakable.
The Appellants’ arguments regarding the strength and importance of the merits are an indictment of the Appellants and their counsel, not an excuse. And, as evidenced by their conduct in the district court and this Court since 2003, the
Appellants’ unwillingness to timely and properly present their arguments is pervasive and not a one-time mistake that can be pinned exclusively on counsel. As indicated in the Receiver’s motions to dismiss, the Appellants have a long history of failing to present their supposedly compelling arguments regarding the Receiver’s
9
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 60 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 and the district court’s actions at the relevant time, and then relying on wasteful and groundless motions to reconsider, appeals, and extraordinary writs filed years later.2
For example, Appellants Bendall and Geist did not appear in the district court at all until eight years after the appointment of the Receiver, and never prosecuted a motion for intervention in the district court; now, they seek in their brief to present arguments regarding the validity of the Receiver’s appointment and their removal as directors, thirteen years after the fact. Lauer and Garvey also did not object to the appointment of the Receiver in the first place, and none of the Appellants timely filed a claim against the receivership estates by the well-publicized bar date in 2004; now, they assert that the Receiver owed them fiduciary duties all along, and claim they are entitled to millions in distributions and offsets.
This is not a case involving a single mistake of procedure by counsel; it is part of a unified strategy by the Appellants and their counsel to attack decisions made and actions taken years earlier while they acquiesced or remained conspicuously silent. In this context, it is proper to attest the errors of counsel to
2 Lauer and Garvey have now filed at least fourteen appeals and extraordinary writ petitions in this Court. This does not include appeals and writs filed by Bendall and Geist. A chronology of these proceedings, originally attached as an exhibit to the SEC’s motion for summary disposition in Case 15-15635 and not including the subsequently-filed Case 16-12055, is attached hereto as Exhibit A. After all of these appeals, the Appellants and their counsel should be experts at complying with the rules and procedures of this Court. 10
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 61 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 the clients. “It is true that plaintiff … may have been harmed by his counsel’s inability to meet deadlines in this case. But, the Supreme Court has said that clients are to be held accountable for the acts and omissions of their attorneys.”
Palm Bay, 358 F.3d at 864. The Appellants “voluntarily chose this attorney” as their representative in these appeals, and they “cannot now avoid the consequences of the acts or omissions of this freely selected agent. Any other notion would be wholly inconsistent with our system of representative litigation, in which each party is deemed bound by the acts of his lawyer-agent and is considered to have notice of all facts, notice of which can be charged upon the attorney.” See Pioneer
Inv. Servs. Co. v. Brunswick Assocs. Ltd., 507 U.S. 380, 396-97, 113 S.Ct. 1489,
1499, 123 L.Ed.2d 74 (1993).
Finally, it is evident from the Reinstatement Motion and their tardy brief that the Appellants and their counsel are not truly willing to accept responsibility for their failure to comply with this Court’s orders and rules, as required to support invocations of leniency under Local Rule 42-2(e). Although counsel in his declaration pretends to accept “full responsibility for any and all defaults, mistakes, and oversights that have occurred in these appeals,” he nevertheless proceeds to rattle off his qualifications as “an experienced attorney who has litigated major cases” as evidence for his belief that he “acted diligently” and has not “ignored
11
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 62 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
[his] obligation or the orders of the Court.” See Dorsen Declaration at 17-18.
Counsel refuses to admit any sort of error at all. Instead, as asserted in the
Reinstatement Motion, the Appellants blame the Receiver and the Court for their failure to comply with the Court’s clear and unambiguous orders and rules. If the
Receiver had not filed his motions to dismiss in an attempt to limit costs in these frivolous appeals, and if the Court had not entered a sua sponte order limiting the
Appellants’ abuse of its jurisdiction, then the Appellants and their counsel would have timely filed their appeal. This refusal to accept responsibility is appalling.
This is not a typical situation under Local Rule 42-2(e), where a pro se litigant or counsel admits an honest mistake, apologizes to the Court, submits a curative brief, and requests leniency. Here, the Court is faced with parties that refuse to acknowledge their own mistakes, blame the Receiver and the Court for their failure to review and comprehend unambiguous rules, and file a brief that blatantly disregards earlier rulings on jurisdiction by including twenty pages of argument on issues that were specifically dismissed. This is an astonishing level of contempt for the appellate process and its requirements. Counsel continues to assert in his declaration that “[w]ith respect, I believed and believe that the Court’s sua sponte order was plainly incorrect.” See Dorsen Declaration at 21-22. But the
Appellants’ continuing refusal to accept their responsibilities as appellants, to
12
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 63 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055 comply with orders and rules, and to accept the Court’s decisions evidence that the
Appellants and their counsel have no respect for this Court. In their view, the
Court is in the wrong here: they were justified in not timely filing their brief by this
Court’s errors in the sua sponte order. This is not a request for leniency in the spirit of Local Rule 42-2(e). The Court should not condone this attitude by granting the Appellants a second chance afforded apologetic litigants with compelling explanations for noncompliance.
CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the Receiver respectfully requests that the Court deny the Reinstatement Motion.
DATED this 7th day of December, 2016.
Respectfully submitted,
By: s/ Juan C. Enjamio Juan C. Enjamio Florida Bar No. 571910 [email protected]
HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP Attorneys for Marty Steinberg as Receiver/Appellee Sabadell Financial Center 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2500 Miami, Florida 33131 Telephone: 305.810.2500 Facsimile: 305.810.2460
13
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 64 of 64 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Lauer and John W. Bendall, Jr., et al. v. Marty Steinberg, Court-Appointed Receiver, Case Nos. 15-15635/15-15636/16-12055
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this 7th day of December, 2016, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing Response in Opposition to be sent by electronic mail to:
Benjamin Vetter, Esq. Litigation Counsel Securities & Exchange Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549-8010
and
David M. Dorsen, Esq. Suite 500 2900 K Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20007
By: /s/ Juan C. Enjamio Juan C. Enjamio
14
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 1 of 3
EXHIBIT A Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 2 of 3
Chronology of Appeals & Extraordinary Writs
Appeals by Michael Lauer in SEC v. Lauer, No. 03-80612, S.D. Fla. Date District Court 11th Cir. Disposition Docket Entry for Docket Notice of Appeal Number 03/19/2004 DE220 04-11366 Dismissed, want of prosecution. See DE340. 03/10/2005 DE894 05-11989 Dismissed, want of prosecution. See DE999. 05/12/2006 DE1445 06-12887 SEC v. Lauer, 240 Fed. Appx. 355 (11th Cir. 2007) (discovery sanctions affirmed). 12/09/2008 DE2190 08-17050 Dismissed, lack of jurisdiction. See DE2229. 04/13/2009 DE2250 09-12198 Dismissed, want of prosecution. See DE2285. 10/07/2009 DE2324 09-15138 SEC v. Lauer, 478 Fed. Appx. 550 (11th Cir. 2012) (final judgment affirmed). 07/19/2013 DE2727 13-13110 SEC v. Lauer, 610 Fed. Appx. 813 (11th Cir. 2015) (denial of motions to vacate the judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 affirmed). 08/29/2014 DE2906 14-13931 Dismissed, lack of jurisdiction. 09/18/2014 DE2922 See DE2936. 12/18/2015 DE3027 15-15635 Pending. 12/22/2015 DE3032 12/29/2015 DE3035 01/07/2016 DE3039
Case: 15-15635 Date Filed: 12/07/2016 Page: 3 of 3
Extraordinary Writs Sought by Michael Lauer Date Eleventh Circuit Docket Disposition 12/16/2013 In re Michael Lauer, DENIED: 3/27/14. No. 13-15710 (Petition for Mandamus seeking review of Judge Marra’s Order Denying Recusal, DE844 entered in Receiver v. Lauer, No. 05- 60584, S.D. Fla. Joined by Martin Garvey on 1/21/2014) 11/03/2014 In re Michael Lauer, DENIED: 12/24/14 No. 14-14983 Reconsideration DENIED: 2/9/15 (Petition for Mandamus Certiorari DENIED: 5/18/2015 seeking review of Judge Marra’s Order Denying Recusal, DE2809 entered in SEC v. Lauer, No. 03- 80612, S.D. Fla.)
Appeals by Martin Garvey in SEC v. Lauer, No. 03-80612, S.D. Fla. Date District Court 11th Cir. Disposition Docket Entry for Docket Notice of Appeal Number 11/21/2012 DE2657 12-16068 John W. Bendall, Jr. and Martin Garvey v. Lancer Mgmt. Grp., LLC, 523 Fed. Appx. 554 (11th Cir. 2013) (district court’s denial of Bendall and Garvey’s request for an order that the court-appointed receiver to pay their attorney fees and costs affirmed) 12/18/2015 DE3027 15-15635 Pending. 12/22/2015 DE3032