Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hughes, 61 Civ. 2324.

• Decision Date: 10 June 1970
• Docket Number: No. 61 Civ. 2324.,61 Civ. 2324.
• Citation: 314 F. Supp. 94
• Parties: TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC., Plaintiff, v. Howard R. HUGHES, Hughes Tool Company and Raymond M. Holliday, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

314 F. Supp. 94

TRANS WORLD AIRLINES, INC., Plaintiff, v. Howard R. HUGHES, Hughes Tool Company and Raymond M. Holliday, Defendants.

No. 61 Civ. 2324.

United States District Court, S. D. New York.

June 10, 1970.

Cahill, Gordon, Sonnett, Reindel & Ohl, New York City, for plaintiff; Dudley B. Tenney, Paul W. Williams, Immanuel Kohn, Marshall H. Cox, Jr., and Michael P. Tierney, New York City, of counsel.

Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine and Chester C. Davis, New York City, for defendants Hughes Tool Co. and Raymond M. Holliday; Ralstone R. Irvine, James V. Hayes, Chester C. Davis, George S. Leisure, Jr., Mahlon F. Perkins, Jr., Lola S. Lea, David A. Wier, and Paul E. Goodspeed, New York City, of counsel.

METZNER, District Judge.

Defendants move for a stay of execution, pending appeal, of the judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff without posting the usual supersedeas bond. Practically speaking, defendant Hughes Tool Company (hereinafter called Toolco) is the party involved in this motion.

F.R.C.P. 62(d) provides that "When an appeal is taken the appellant by giving a supersedeas bond may obtain a stay subject to the exceptions contained in subdivision (a) of this rule. * * *" Rule 33 of the General Rules of this court provides that such bond shall be in the amount of the judgment plus 11% and an additional $250 to cover costs. Plaintiff in this antitrust action was awarded single damages of $45,870,478.65, which after trebling and adding costs and a reasonable attorney's fee amounts to $145,448,141.07. The bond would have to be in the amount of $161,447,686.59.

Rule 31(b) of the General Rules of this court provides that every bond or undertaking must either:

"(1) be secured by the deposit of cash or government bonds in the amount of the bond, undertaking or stipulation, or be secured by (2) the undertaking or guaranty of a corporate surety holding a certificate of authority from the Secretary of the Treasury * * *."

The third alternative provided by the rule is not applicable to this case.

It is Toolco's contention that either of the alternatives contained in Rule 31(b) "could not be effected without imposing an added penalty on Toolco by requiring it to engage in disruptive and time-consuming liquidation of assets or a costly and time-consuming financing program." It proposes that it either not be required to post any bond or undertaking, or that whenever the net worth of Toolco goes below three times the judgment the stay pending appeal shall be lifted.

Although the final judgment in this matter was not entered until April 14, 1970, the report of the special master recommending damages in the amount of $137,611,435.95 was confirmed by this court on December 23, 1969. Defendants apparently did nothing from that time until May 5, 1970 (the date of the order to show cause bringing on this motion) to arrange for the posting of the required bond except to make inquiry of surety companies. Appended to the order to show cause are two letters from surety companies indicating that a bond of this size could be arranged only if secured with a deposit of collateral in the form of cash or government bonds or documents of similar liquidity in the full amount of the bond. The inability of surety companies to undertake such an obligation is fully understood and appreciated by the court.

Because of the unprecedented size of the judgment against what is in essence a single defendant, the court signed the order to show cause in an attempt to see if some satisfactory arrangement could be worked out whereby the interests of the successful plaintiff could be reconciled with the understandable, practical problems facing Toolco. Hearings were held on May 11, May 20 and June 3 which were unproductive in bringing the parties close to a solution of the problem.

At the outset the brief submitted by Toolco took the position that the law was clear to the effect that the court has the power "in extraordinary circumstances such as those presented by this case, to grant a stay of execution without requiring the filing of a supersedeas bond in the ordinary form or the posting of any security." It argued that its net worth was in excess of $500,000,000 and that this was ample assurance that the plaintiff would be able, in the event of affirmance, to obtain satisfaction of its judgment without the posting of any security at the present time. In addition, it offered that a lien could be created on specific property having a value in excess of $45,000,000, the amount of the compensatory portion of the judgment. The plaintiff took the position that Rule 33, requiring a bond in the amount of 111% of the judgment, indicates that any lower figure is most unlikely to be sufficient security for the payment of a judgment.

With the adoption of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, effective July 1, 1968, Rule 73(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which referred to supersedeas bonds on appeals to the Court of Appeals, was repealed. It had provided, among other things, that:

"the amount of the bond shall be fixed at such sum as will cover the whole amount of the judgment remaining unsatisfied, costs on appeal, interest, and damages for delay, unless the court, after notice and hearing and for good cause shown, fixes a different amount * * *."

These words had been inserted in the original rule in 1938 to cover situations where money judgments of enormous sums had been entered and defendants were unable to give a supersedeas bond to stay the execution of a judgment. The language allowed the court, in a case of hardship of that kind, to issue a stay of execution so that, in effect, the defendant's right of appeal would not be destroyed. The language was not transferred to any other section of the rules by the amendment of 1968, and consequently the court is faced with F.R.C.P. 62(d) and our local district Rule 33. Despite the repeal of Rule 73(d), I am of the opinion that the court has the inherent power in extraordinary circumstances to provide for the form and amount of security for a stay pending appeal, based on the conditions it finds to exist in a particular case. See 9 Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 208.061 at 1416 (2d ed. 1969).

At the first hearing on May 11, the parties adhered to their diametrically opposed positions. The plaintiff pointed out that there was no assurance that Toolco's present net worth would continue to exist. It further took the position that during the period from December to May Toolco, with its asserted net worth, could have arranged for a loan to be used as an undertaking. Plaintiff suggested that Howard Hughes, the sole owner of the stock of Toolco, should guarantee the payment of the judgment and place his...