221123 ORD RE LAMOUTTE MCKINSEY MOT VERSION NOVEMBER 23, 2022 1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

In re:

THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO,

as representative of

THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO et al.,

Debtors.1

PROMESA

Title III

Case No. 17 BK 3283-LTS

(Jointly Administered)

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO INTERVENE AND TO INFORM THE EXISTENCE AND 

CONTINUANCE OF UNRESOLVABLE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN VIOLATION OF THE PUERTO 

RICO RECOVERY ACCURACY IN DISCLOSURES ACT OF 2021, 48 U.S.C. 2101 ET SEQ., AND 

PETITION FOR: (A) THE PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION OF MCKINSEY & COMPANY, INC.

AND ITS AFFILIATES AS ADVISORS TO THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT BOARD 

FOR PUERTO RICO, AND (B) THE DISALLOWMENT AND DISGORGEMENT OF LEGAL FEES

The Court has received and reviewed the Motion to Intervene and to Inform the 

Existence and Continuance of Unresolvable Conflicts of Interest in Violation of the Puerto Rico 

Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act of 2021, 48 U.S.C. 2101 et seq., and Petition for: (A) the 

Permanent Disqualification of McKinsey & Company, Inc. and Its Affiliates as Advisors to the 

Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, and (B) the Disallowment and 

Disgorgement of Legal Fees (Docket Entry No. 22025 in Case No. 17-3283) (the “Motion”),2

filed by Carlos Lamoutte (“Attorney Lamoutte”), as well as the other papers submitted in 

1 The Debtors in these Title III Cases, along with each Debtor’s respective Title III case 

number and the last four (4) digits of each Debtor’s federal tax identification number, as 

applicable, are the (i) Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK3283-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3481); (ii) Puerto Rico Sales Tax 

Financing Corporation (“COFINA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-3284-LTS) (Last Four 

Digits of Federal Tax ID: 8474); (iii) Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation 

Authority (“HTA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-3567-LTS) (Last Four Digits of 

Federal Tax ID: 3808); (iv) Employees Retirement System of the Government of the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“ERS”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-3566-LTS) (Last 

Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 9686); (v) Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority 

(“PREPA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-4780-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax 

ID: 3747); and (vi) Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority (“PBA”) (Bankruptcy Case 

No. 19-BK-5523-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3801) (Title III case 

numbers are listed as Bankruptcy Case numbers due to software limitations).

2 All docket entry references herein are to the docket of Case No. 17-3283.

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221123 ORD RE LAMOUTTE MCKINSEY MOT VERSION NOVEMBER 23, 2022 2

connection with the Motion.

3

In the Motion, Attorney Lamoutte—purporting to file the Motion as a citizen of 

Puerto Rico and self-described relator—requests entry of an order permanently disqualifying 

McKinsey from serving as an advisor to the Oversight Board and ordering the disallowance and 

disgorgement of McKinsey’s fees due to McKinsey’s alleged “concurrent representation of the 

Oversight Board and of several private clients of McKinsey that possess private interests that are 

materially adverse to the public interests of the Oversight Board and of the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico, who is the debtor here.” (Mot. at 2, 16.) The Oversight Board and McKinsey filed 

objections to the Motion arguing, among other things, that that Attorney Lamoutte lacks standing 

to bring the Motion because he has not alleged a concrete injury that he has suffered as a result 

of the existence or concealment of McKinsey’s alleged conflicts. (McKinsey Obj. at ¶¶ 2-4; 

FOMB Obj. ¶¶ 8, 22 & n.6.) 

The Court has previously addressed a similar motion in which Attorney Lamoutte 

requested disqualification of O’Neill & Borges LLC (“O&B”), local counsel to the Oversight 

Board. (See Memorandum Order Denying the Motion to Intervene and to Inform the Existence 

and Continuance of an Unresolvable Conflict of Interest in Violation of the Puerto Rico 

Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act of 2021, 48 U.S.C. 2101 et seq., and Petition for: (A) the 

Permanent Disqualification of O’Neill & Borges, LLC as Legal Counsel to the Financial 

Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, and (B) the Disallowment and Disgorgement 

of Legal Fees, Docket Entry No. 22909) (the “O&B Order”).

In the O&B Order, the analytical elements of which the Court incorporates here 

by reference, the Court determined that Attorney Lamoutte lacked standing to prosecute his 

motion under (i) Article III’s constitutional standing requirements, (ii) the federal court 

prudential standing requirement that a party’s claim must be premised on its own rights, and (iii) 

the “party in interest” requirement of section 1109(b) of the Bankruptcy Code. (See O&B Order

at 9-12.) The Court concluded that Attorney Lamoutte had failed to demonstrate standing 

because he did “not assert that he is a creditor of any of the Title III Debtors or that he otherwise 

has any personal stake in the outcome of the Title III Cases generally, or in the relief sought in 

the Motion specifically.” (O&B Order at 11.)

In the O&B Order, the Court addressed substantially the same arguments and 

allegations that Attorney Lamoutte has raised here concerning his standing. (See O&B Order at 

9-14.) First, the Court noted that simply being a citizen was not an adequate basis for standing 

because “[i]t is apodictic that a mere interest in seeing the government turn square corners is not 

the kind of particularized interest that can satisfy the most basic constitutional prerequisite for 

standing.” (O&B Order at 10 (quoting Osediacz v. City of Cranston, 414 F.3d 136, 142 (1st Cir. 

2005)).) Second, the Court rejected the premise that Attorney Lamoutte could appear as a 

“relator.” (See O&B Order at 11 (noting that Attorney Lamoutte “points to no law vesting 

3 Objections to the Motion were filed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board 

for Puerto Rico (the “Oversight Board”) (Docket Entry No. 22216) (the “FOMB 

Objection”) and McKinsey & Company Puerto Rico Consulting, Inc. and its affiliates 

(collectively, “McKinsey”) (Docket Entry No. 22232) (the “McKinsey Objection”). 

Attorney Lamoutte filed a reply in support of the Motion (Docket Entry No. 22320) (the 

“Reply”).

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221123 ORD RE LAMOUTTE MCKINSEY MOT VERSION NOVEMBER 23, 2022 3

private citizens with the right to challenge the Oversight Board’s choice of counsel in these Title 

III Cases, and he therefore has no basis for asserting whatever rights others may have to 

challenge O&B’s retention in the Title III Cases”). Third, the Court concluded that the First 

Circuit’s decision in Kevlik v. Goldstein, 724 F.2d 844 (1st Cir. 1984) did not provide standing 

to Attorney Lamoutte because its rationale did not extend so far as to permit individuals with no 

legally cognizable connection to a proceeding to intervene in a proceeding. (See O&B Order at 

12-14 (noting that Attorney Lamoutte’s broad view of Kevlik raises a “substantial risk of 

mischief to the detriment of parties in interest who are already capable of protecting their own 

interests and who have chosen their own counsel in these proceedings”).)

For these same reasons, as elaborated in the O&B Order, the Court concludes that 

Attorney Lamoutte lacks standing to prosecute the Motion, and the Motion is denied. This Order 

resolves Docket Entry No. 22025 in Case No. 17-3283.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: November 23, 2022 /s/ Laura Taylor Swain 

LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN

United States District Judge

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