Fort v. Kibbey (In re LabSource, LLC)
| Decision Date | 19 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | Adv. Pro. 21-80059-HB,C. A. 19-05161-HB |
| Parties | In re, Labsource, LLC, Debtor(s). v. Aaron Kibbey, individually and as Chief Restructuring Officer of Oaktree Medical Centre, PC; Timothy Daileader, individually and as Independent Director of Oaktree Medical Centre, PC; Huron Consulting Services, LLC aka Huron Consulting Group; Mark Freedlander, David Pivnick, McGuireWoods LLP, Defendant(s). John K. Fort, Trustee, Plaintiff(s), |
| Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of South Carolina |
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants Huron Consulting Services, LLC ("Huron") and Aaron Kibbey (collectively "Huron Defendants"), seeking dismissal of the Amended Complaint filed by John K. Fort, the Chapter 7 Trustee administering the bankruptcy estates of Oaktree Medical Centre, P.C., Oaktree Medical Centre, LLC, and Labsource, LLC (collectively "Debtors").[1] The Huron Defendants contend the arbitration provision of Huron's Engagement Agreement with the Debtors requires the Court to dismiss the Amended Complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(3) and (6)[2] and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. ("FAA"). If any causes of action are not arbitrable, the Huron Defendants assert those claims should be stayed pending arbitration or dismissed under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of standing. The Motion has been fully briefed[3] and is ripe for disposition.
Allegations of the Complaint[4]
This adversary proceeding concerns issues with the performance of professionals retained by the Debtors to aid in restructuring. The Debtors comprised a privately-owned pain management practice. After the Debtors' failed to repay their matured secured credit facility, the lenders exercised a contractual remedy by terminating the owner's rights and appointing Defendant Tim Daileader as Independent Director/Manager. After Daileader assumed control of the Debtors, he retained Huron Transaction Advisory ("HTA") to assist with a debt financing transaction. Complications with the Debtors' operations arose, including raids conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at various facilities. At that time, the Debtors transitioned from HTA to Huron for general turnaround and restructuring services, including engagement of a chief restructuring officer.
Huron and the Debtors executed an Engagement Agreement that placed Kibbey in the role of MSO-level Chief Restructuring Officer and tasked the Huron Defendants with overseeing and implementing a restructuring plan.[5] The Engagement Agreement includes the following arbitration provision:
This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois without giving effect to conflict of law rules. The parties hereto agree that any and all disputes or claims arising hereunder shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any arbitration will be conducted in Chicago Illinois. Any arbitration award may be entered in and enforced by any court having jurisdiction thereof, and the parties consent and commit themselves to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Illinois for purposes of any enforcement of any arbitration award. Except as may be required by law, neither a party nor an arbitrator may disclose the existence, content, or results of any arbitration hereunder without the prior written consent of both parties.
The various professionals working for the Debtors failed to effectuate an MSO and no restructuring plan was developed or implemented allegedly due, in part, to issues related to Huron and Kibbey's competence and performance. When the professionals realized a restructuring was not tenable, they proposed a Chapter 11 reorganization that required additional funding from the lenders. After the lenders refused, Chapter 7 preparations began. Huron attempted to liquidate the Debtors' assets as quickly as possible to realize payments for only the professionals' fees.
On September 18, 2019, Debtors paid Huron its final invoice of $148, 734.00. The next day, Debtors filed separate voluntary petitions for Chapter 7 relief in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Venue was transferred to this Court on September 30, 2019, and the Trustee was appointed in all three cases. Huron filed three proofs of claim in each case: two for professional fees in the amounts of $49, 366.39 and $1, 034, 422.50; and an indemnification claim for an undetermined amount.
The Trustee asserts the professionals mismanaged the Debtors, causing harm to the estates and ultimately all creditors by diminishing the Debtors' assets, increasing the Debtors' liabilities, and prioritizing payment of their own professional fees over payments to creditors while operating the Debtors and/or working for the Debtors in a fiduciary capacity. On September 17, 2021, the Trustee filed this adversary proceeding seeking recovery from Huron for the benefit of the estate and creditors. After the Huron Defendants and others filed motions to dismiss, the Trustee filed an Amended Complaint on December 7, 2021, addressing deficiencies. The Amended Complaint added allegations that as a result of breaches of the Engagement Agreement and a failure to perform duties, Huron's proofs of claim should not be allowed. It includes a prayer for relief for "[f]ull adjudication by this Honorable Court of the issues and facts presented by the Parties in the pleadings, proofs of claim, discovery, and any issues presented by the core of operative facts related to Defendants' performance of its duties to Debtors or those services which should have been performed." The only other allegation regarding Huron's proofs of claim is "Huron had the audacity to file a Proof of Claim within the Debtors' Estates for the time they spent over the [contractual] cap, and demanded and received a retainer for post-petition work." (emphasis in original).
The Amended Complaint asserts the Huron Defendants and others mismanaged the Debtor and did not perform as intended, breached their common law duties and duties under the Engagement Agreement, caused damage to the Debtors and, consequently, damage to all creditors by being paid professional fees of $2, 160, 120.86 to Huron and $250, 000.00 to HTA while the Debtors' liabilities grew. Therefore, the Trustee asserts Huron is not entitled to payment of its proofs of claims and the Trustee is entitled to an award of damages on behalf of the Debtors' estates and/or the creditors by asserting the following causes of action against the Huron Defendants: Breach of Fiduciary Duty; Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty; Negligence/Professional Malpractice; Fraud; Civil Conspiracy; Unjust Enrichment; and Breach of Contract (collectively, "State Law Claims"). The Trustee also asserts causes of action against the Huron Defendants for: Actual Fraud under § 548(a)(1)(A); Constructive Fraud under § 548(a)(1)(B); Preference under § 547; and Recovery of All Transfers under § 550 (collectively, "Avoidance Actions"). While no specific damages amount is alleged, a fair reading of the Amended Complaint indicates the Trustee is seeking amounts that surpass Huron's proofs of claim.
The Huron Defendants assert all causes of action brought against them must be dismissed because they are subject to the Engagement Agreement's arbitration provision. Although no Federal Rule of Civil Procedure expressly addresses motions to dismiss or stay pending arbitration, the Fourth Circuit has observed that an arbitration clause is "a specialized kind of forum-selection clause," and "a motion to dismiss based on a forum-selection clause should be properly treated under Rule 12(b)(3) as a motion to dismiss on the basis of improper venue." Aggarao v. MOL Ship Mgmt. Co. Ltd., 675 F.3d 355, 365 n.9 (4th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). However, dismissal under Rule 12(b)(3) "depends exclusively on whether the court in which the case was brought satisfies the requirements of federal venue laws." Atl. Marine Const. Co. v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for W. Dist. of Tex., 571 U.S. 49, 55 (2013). A forum-selection clause and, thus, an arbitration provision, does not itself make venue improper. Id.
Rather, Huron's Motion is best analyzed under the FAA, which "requires courts to enforce covered arbitration agreements according to their terms." Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 139 S.Ct. 1407, 1412 (2019) (citing 9 U.S.C. § 2). Adkins v. Lab. Ready, Inc., 303 F.3d 496, 500 (4th Cir. 2002) (quoting 9 U.S.C. § 3).
"However, when every claim in a case must be submitted to arbitration, the court may dismiss the case instead of staying it." Campbell v. Anesthesia Mgmt. Sols LLC, C/A No. 5:20-CV-3538-SAL, 2021 WL 4167530, at *2 (D.S.C. Sept. 14, 2021) (citations omitted); Choice Hotels Int'l, Inc. v. BSR Tropicana Resort, Inc., 252 F.3d 707, 709-10 (4th Cir. 2001) ( ...
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