United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

 ___________

 No. 96-3262

 ___________

Kansas Public Employees *

Retirement System, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellant, *

*

v. *

*

Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, *

Weary & Lombardi, L.C., a law *

partnership; William H. *

Sanders, Sr., individually and *

as the representative of a *

defendant class, * Appeals from the United States

* District Court for the

Defendants - Appellees. * Western District of Missouri.

___________

No. 96-3317 

___________

Kansas Public Employees *

Retirement System, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellant, *

*

v. *

*

Reimer & Koger Associates, *

Inc., a Kansas Corporation; *

Ronald Reimer, an individual; *

Kenneth H. Koger, an *

individual; Clifford W. *

Shinski, an individual; Brent *
-2-

Messick, an individual; Robert *

Crew, an individual; Sherman *

Dreiseszun, an individual; *

I. I. Ozar, an individual; *

Frank Sebree, an individual; *

Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., *

an accountancy firm; KPMG Peat *

Marwick, an accountancy firm; *

Robert Spence, an individual; *

Thomas S. Morgan, co-executor *

of the estate of Frank S. *

Morgan; Marilyn J., co-executor *

of the estate of Frank Morgan, *

*

Defendants - Appellees, *

*

Shook, Hardy & Bacon, through *

C. Patrick McLarney, acting as *

a representative of an agreed *

upon class of partners in *

Shook, Hardy & Bacon, and for *

Shook, Hardy & Bacon P.C., *

*

Intervenor Defendant - *

Appellee. *

*

------------------------------- *

*

Kansas Public Employees *

Retirement System, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellant, *

*

v. *

*

Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, *

Weary & Lombardi, L.C., a law *

partnership; William H. *

Sanders, Sr., individually and *

as the representative of a *

defendant class, *

*

Defendants - Appellees. *
-3-

___________

No. 96-3680 

___________

Kansas Public Employees *

Retirement System, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellant, *

*

v. *

*

Reimer & Koger Associates, *

Inc., a Kansas Corporation; *

Ronald Reimer, an individual; *

Kenneth H. Koger, an *

individual; Clifford W. *

Shinski, an individual; Brent *

Messick, an individual; Robert *

Crew, an individual; Sherman *

Dreiseszun, an individual; *

I. I. Ozar, an individual; *

Frank Sebree, an individual; *

Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., *

an accountancy firm, *

*

Defendants, *

*

KPMG Peat Marwick, an *

accountancy firm; Robert *

Spence, an individual, *

*

Defendants - Appellees, *

*

Thomas S. Morgan, co-executor *

of the estate of Frank S. *

Morgan; Marilyn J., co-executor *

of the estate of Frank Morgan, *

*

Defendants, *

*

Shook, Hardy & Bacon, through *

C. Patrick McLarney, acting as *

a representative of an agreed *

upon class of partners in *

Shook, Hardy & Bacon, and for *

Shook, Hardy & Bacon P.C., *

*

Intervenor Defendant. *
The Honorable D. Brook Bartlett, Chief Judge, United States

1

District Court for the Western District of Missouri. 

The investment advisor defendants are Reimer & Koger

2

Associates, Inc., and a number of individuals associated with

Reimer & Koger: Kenneth H. Koger, Ronald Reimer, Clifford W.

Shinski, Robert Crew and Brent Messick. 

The accountant defendants are KPMG Peat Marwick and Robert

3

W.L. Spence, a partner in Peat Marwick.

The lawyer defendants are Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary 4

& Lombardi, L.C.; its partner William H. Sanders, Sr.; Shook, Hardy

& Bacon, P.C.; and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, a class of partners. A

Shook Hardy partner, Frank P. Sebree, is joined both in his

capacity as a lawyer and as a Home Savings director.

Michael Russell was a trustee of KPERS and a defendant in

5

this case. The court entered summary judgment for Russell on March

4, 1997, and KPERS appealed. KPERS moved to stay argument of this

case so that the appeal could be consolidated with this appeal. We

denied that motion. Order of March 11, 1997.

The Home Savings defendants are the Estate of Frank Morgan,

6

Sherman Dreiseszun, I. I. Ozar, and Frank P. Sebree.

-4-

___________

 Submitted: March 13, 1997

 Filed: May 13, 1997

___________

Before McMILLIAN, JOHN R. GIBSON, and BOWMAN, Circuit Judges.

___________

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, known as KPERS, appeals

from the district court’s entry of an adverse summary judgment in its case 1

against its investment advisers, accountants, lawyers, one of its own

2 3 4

trustees, and the former directors of Home Savings Association, arising 5 6

out of KPERS’s 
KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., Inc., No. 92-0922-CV-W-9 7

and No. 95-0819-CV-W-9 (W.D. Mo. June 3, 1996); KPERS v. Reimer &

Koger Assocs., Inc., No.92-0922-CV-W-9 (W.D. Mo. July 25, 1996). 

The court also denied KPERS's motion to amend its Sixth Amended 

Complaint. KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., Inc., No. 92-0922-

CV-W-9 (W. D. Mo. Aug. 5, 1996). 

-5-

investment in Home Savings, a failed thrift institution. In an earlier

appeal, we held that KPERS's claims were not governed by a ten-year Kansas

statute of limitation, but that Missouri choice of law provisions

controlled. KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., 61 F.3d 608 (8th Cir.

1995)(KPERS III), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 915 (1996). Under the Missouri

borrowing statute, KPERS's claims are barred if they would be untimely

under the two- and three-year statutes provided by Kansas law. Id. We

remanded to the district court to determine whether KPERS's claims were

barred by the Kansas statutes. The district court held that KPERS’s claims

are time-barred under Kansas law. KPERS argues that the court should not 7

have applied the Kansas statutes of limitation to KPERS’s claims, because

its claims are exempt from all statutes of limitation. Further, KPERS

argues that, even if the claims are subject to the statutes of limitation,

the district court erred in applying the statutes of limitation to the

facts of this case, specifically that it misconstrued Kansas law concerning

when a cause of action accrues, overlooked disputed fact issues, and failed

to consider all of KPERS’s claims against its accountants. We affirm the

judgments of the district court.

KPERS is the pension fund for certain employees of the state of

Kansas. In 1983 Governor John Carlin began to promote the use of KPERS

money to stimulate the Kansas economy. KPERS's investment consultants,

Callan Associates, Inc., advised KPERS in 1983 that investing public

pension fund moneys as venture capital to promote regional business would

be a high-risk undertaking. Callan advised 
-6-

KPERS not to embark on such a program, but to stick to "more traditional

investments." Carlin appointed a Kansas City businessman, Michael Russell,

to KPERS’s board of trustees. Russell became chairman of KPERS's board in

August 1985. Russell was a friend and business associate of Kansas City

banker Frank Morgan. 

In 1985, KPERS established a special "Kansas Investment Fund" to make

direct investments in Kansas ventures. About the same time, Morgan and his

uncle, Sherman Dreiseszun, bought Home Savings, an ailing thrift

institution based in Kansas City. As part of the acquisition, Morgan and

Dreiseszun entered into an agreement with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board

in which they agreed that Home Savings would not engage in transactions

with other banks affiliated with Morgan and Dreiseszun. Because Morgan and

Dreiseszun were the "standby purchasers" of Home Savings stock, this

agreement is known as the "standby purchaser agreement." Russell became

a member of the Home Savings board of directors. He and his businesses had

borrowed large amounts from Home Savings.

KPERS conducted its investments through outside investment advisors,

one of which was Reimer & Koger. Relations between KPERS and Reimer &

Koger were governed by a Special Investment Advisory Services Agreement,

which incorporated the "prudent man" standard for investing KPERS's money.

After Russell became chairman of KPERS's board, Frank Morgan invited Reimer

& Koger’s principal, Kenneth Koger, to invest $25 million of KPERS’s money

in Home Savings. Koger only had authority to invest $15 million of KPERS’s

money without board approval, but on December 31, 1985, Koger committed to

invest that amount in Home Savings subordinated debentures. Koger noted

in a memo sent to KPERS's executive secretary that Russell was on Home

Savings's board and that "something would have to be done about that."

Accordingly, Russell 
-7-

resigned from Home Savings's board on February 12, 1986. Koger then

invested KPERS’s $15 million in Home Savings subordinated debentures on May

2, 1986. Reimer & Koger retained Blackwell Sanders to do the legal work

for this investment. As counsel for Home Savings, Frank Sebree of Shook

Hardy issued an opinion of counsel in connection with the investment,

stating that to the "best of our knowledge and belief, the Association is

not in violation of . . . any agreement, instrument, judgment, decree,

order, statute, rule or governmental regulation applicable to it." 

 

Morgan next approached Koger about investing $50 million in Home

Savings. Because this investment exceeded Koger’s investment authority,

Koger had to go to the KPERS board for permission to make the investment.

On June 6, 1986, Koger wrote a letter to Russell proffering the $50 million

investment; Koger’s letter stated that the purpose of the investment would

be to finance Home Savings’s acquisition of a $1 billion St. Louis savings

and loan. Russell telephoned the other members of the KPERS board to

obtain approval of the investment, and the trustees voted in favor of the

investment. In June 1986 Home Savings bid on the St. Louis savings and

loan. By the fall of 1986, Home Savings knew it had lost the bid. On

September 30, 1986, because the parties were not prepared to close on the

debentures, KPERS invested in Home Savings short term promissory notes; the

notes were exchanged for subordinate debentures of Home Savings on October

24, 1986. As part of the issuance of the debentures, Sebree again issued

an opinion of counsel to KPERS in which he stated that Home Savings was not

in violation of any agreement or regulation to his knowledge. However, in

actuality, Home Savings had been cited by the bank examiners in its most

recent examination for excessive investment in a subsidiary corporation.
-8-

On November 13, 1986 the Kansas City Star reported that KPERS had

made the $50 million investment in Home Savings. The article quoted Koger

as saying that Home Savings had considered buying an unnamed St. Louis

savings and loan, but that Home Savings had "pretty much dropped [that

acquisition] from consideration." 

 

On December 21, 1986 the Kansas City Star published a lengthy

investigative article entitled: "Kansas pension fund ventures raise

questions of conflict." The article revealed that Russell had not only

been on the Home Savings's board, but that shortly after the $50 million

subordinated debenture purchase, one of Russell's businesses had obtained

a $40 million loan from another Morgan bank. The article quoted interviews

with Koger, Russell, and several other KPERS board members about whether

there was a conflict of interest because of Russell's directorship and

loans.

As a result of the Kansas City Star article, the Kansas Attorney

General, Robert Stephan, undertook an investigation of the possible Russell

conflict. Stephan issued a report on March 4, 1987, concluding that

Russell had not violated the Kansas ethics law, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 46-233,

by virtue of his Home Savings directorship because the amount of money

Russell made as a director was below the $2,000 amount specified in the

Kansas statute as a "substantial interest," Kan. Stat. Ann. § 46-229, and

because Russell had resigned from the directorship by the time of the KPERS

investments. Therefore, the Attorney General's report concluded that the

Kansas ethics statute did not bar Russell from participating in the making

of the Home Savings investment. The Attorney General further considered

whether Kansas ethics laws were "appropriate" to protect the fund. The

Attorney General determined that KPERS was adequately protected by the

requirement that KPERS board members exercise "the judgment and care under

the circumstances then prevailing, which men of prudence, discretion 
KPERS agrees that its ultimate recovery following the

8

regulatory takeover was not affected by the conversion of its

investment from debt to equity. Dist. Ct. Order of June 3, 1996 at

36.

-9-

and intelligence exercise in the management of their own affairs." He

stated: "An attempt to restrict the board any further than this in their

investment decisions may prove detrimental to the program." Further, he

noted that "borderline conflict situations" were perhaps an inevitable

result of the "desirable" practice of having "successful businessmen" on

the board. Stephan's report did not discuss Russell's loan from the other

Morgan bank.

In December 1987 the KPERS $50 million was reinvested in more Home

Savings subordinated debentures. In connection with the reissue, Sebree

again issued an opinion stating that Home Savings was not, to his

knowledge, in violation of any law, agreement, or regulation. However,

Home Savings's last examination report stated that Home Savings had

violated the standby purchasers agreement by buying loans from affiliated

banks and had violated federal regulations by excessive investment in a

subsidiary.

By May 1988, the bank examiners' criticisms of Home Savings's

affiliate transactions, conflicts of interest, and problem loans had become

more urgent. The Kansas City Business Journal reported in September 1988

that Home Savings had been criticized by the examiners in its last

examination for affiliate transactions and undercapitalization. As part

of an effort to provide Home Savings with sufficient capital to meet the

regulatory requirements, KPERS converted its debentures into preferred

stock on March 29, 1990. In 1991, the regulators closed Home Savings and 8

appointed the RTC as receiver. KPERS lost its entire $65 million in

principal, though it had earlier received some $29 million in interest

payments. 
-10-

Peat Marwick had audited KPERS annually from 1983 to 1988. Because

the direct placement investments were difficult to value, KPERS adopted a

policy of carrying those investments on its books at cost, minus any

permanent impairment. KPERS's investment managers, such as Reimer & Koger,

were responsible for reporting to KPERS when they determined an investment

was permanently impaired. The investment advisers were compensated

according to the amount of money they were handling for KPERS, which meant

that they reduced their compensation when they reported an impairment.

Peat Marwick warned KPERS in 1987 and 1988 that its direct placement

investments were partially impaired and that it needed to establish an

investment allowance account to protect it against impairments. Peat

Marwick reported to KPERS's in-house accountants in 1987 and 1988 that

KPERS had impaired direct placement investments of $10 million and $19

million respectively. Peat Marwick nevertheless issued unqualified

opinions despite the impairments. Peat Marwick's successor auditor, Baird,

Kurtz & Dobson, recognized in the 1989 audit that KPERS's direct placement

losses could be as high as $75 million; in response to this report, KPERS

set up an investment allowance account and also wrote down its direct

placement investments by $27 million. Reimer & Koger did not write down

KPERS's $65 million investment until March 15, 1991, the day Home Savings

was placed in receivership.

KPERS initially filed its case on June 5, 1991 in the state courts

of Kansas against the Reimer & Koger defendants. On December 23, 1991,

KPERS added the Home Savings defendants, the Peat Marwick defendants, and

Russell. The Home Savings defendants impleaded the Resolution Trust

Corporation, receiver for Home Savings. The RTC had the power under

FIRREA, 12 U.S.C. § 1441a(l)(3) (1994), to remove the case to the Western

District of Missouri, which it did. KPERS moved to remand the case to the
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Kansas court, but the district court denied its motion, and we affirmed in

KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., 4 F.3d 614 (8th Cir. 1993) (KPERS I),

cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1126 (1994).

After KPERS advised the two law firms, Blackwell Sanders and Shook

Hardy, that it intended to sue them in Kansas, both firms moved to

intervene in this case. The court granted Shook Hardy's motion to

intervene, but denied permission to Blackwell Sanders. However, we

reversed, permitting Blackwell Sanders to intervene as well. KPERS v.

Reimer & Koger Assocs., 60 F.3d 1304 (8th Cir. 1995) (KPERS II). KPERS sued

Blackwell Sanders in Kansas state court on January 6, 1995. Blackwell

impleaded the RTC, which removed the case to the Western District of

Missouri. 

KPERS’s complaint (by now, its Sixth Amended Complaint) is pleaded

in fifteen counts and asserts a variety of theories, including common law

fraud, statutory securities fraud, various breaches of fiduciary and

professional duties, negligence, breach of contract, and civil conspiracy.

There are a few crucial factual allegations relevant to most of the

different legal theories. First, KPERS alleges that the Home Savings

defendants and Reimer & Koger misrepresented that Home Savings would use

KPERS’s $50 million investment to buy a $1 billion St. Louis savings and

loan. KPERS alleges that Home Savings actually knew when it received the

$50 million that it would not use the money to buy the St. Louis savings

and loan, because Home Savings needed the money to raise its capital level

to the regulatory minimum. KPERS alleges Reimer & Koger knew the money

would not be so used, but failed to tell KPERS. KPERS alleges that Russell

told the other KPERS trustees that the money would be used to buy the St.

Louis savings and loan. Second, KPERS alleges that Sebree issued opinion

letters on behalf of Home Savings saying that Home Savings was not in

violation of any governmental regulation or agreement, when in fact Home

Savings 
-12-

was in violation of the standby purchaser agreement it had entered with the

Federal Home Loan Bank Board and had excessive investments in one of its

subsidiaries. Third, KPERS alleges that the Home Savings defendants made

several statements about the quantum of risk in their lending portfolio,

and that these statements were false because the credit risk was much

higher due to high risk transactions done to benefit other Morgan banks.

Similarly, KPERS claims Reimer & Koger and Blackwell Sanders failed to

advise KPERS of the high-risk nature of the Home Savings investment.

Fourth, KPERS alleges that Russell made false statements to the other KPERS

trustees in order to procure KPERS's money for Home Savings so that Home

Savings's affiliates would, in turn, lend him $40 million. KPERS claims

that the Home Savings defendants, Shook Hardy, Blackwell Sanders and Reimer

& Koger participated in Russell’s breach of duty by failing to reveal

Russell’s conflicts of interest to KPERS. Finally, KPERS alleges the Peat

Marwick defendants' failure to identify and write off impaired investments

caused KPERS to overvalue its investment in Home Savings and prevented it

from discovering the wrongdoing of other defendants and from taking action

to stop its losses. 

The Home Savings defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds

that KPERS's claims were time-barred. The district court determined that

Kansas choice of law rules should govern the choice of limitations law and

that the applicable Kansas period was provided by a ten-year statute

enacted especially to govern civil actions brought by KPERS, Kan. Stat.

Ann. § 60-522 (1994). In an interlocutory appeal, we reversed, holding

that Missouri choice-of- law rules governed, and that the ten-year Kansas

statute did not purport to revive barred claims. KPERS III, 61 F.3d at

615. In KPERS III we held that "the Missouri borrowing statute requires

the district court to apply the Kansas two- and three-year statutes [Kan.

Stat. Ann. §§ 60-513(a) and 60-512] to KPERS’ claims if the 
KPERS has also appeared before us in matters arising out of

9

the same underlying case, but not directly relevant to the issues

here. In KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., 77 F.3d 1063 (8th Cir.)

(KPERS IV), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 359 (1996), we affirmed a

district court order enjoining KPERS from prosecuting suits in

Kansas state court based on the same claims being litigated in this

case. In In re KPERS, 85 F.3d 1353 (8th Cir. 1996) (KPERS V), we

denied KPERS's petition for writ of mandamus directing the district

judge to recuse himself.

-13-

claims would be 'fully barred' by these statutes (a finding of fact which

has not been made)." Id. We remanded for the district court to determine 9

whether KPERS's claims were barred by these statutes. Id.

On remand, all the defendants moved for summary judgment on the

grounds that KPERS’s claims were barred by the Kansas two-year tort

statute, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-513(a) (1996 Cum. Supp.), and the Kansas

three-year statute for statutory claims, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-512 (1994).

The district court held that the defendants were entitled to summary

judgment on the ground that KPERS’s claims were time-barred. Orders of

June 3, 1996 (Home Savings defendants, law firm defendants, and Reimer &

Koger defendants), July 25, 1996 (Peat Marwick defendants); and March 4,

1997 (Russell). The court also denied KPERS's motion to amend its Sixth

Amended Complaint to add a breach of contract claim against the Peat

Marwick defendants. Order of August 5, 1996. 

The district court first considered the summary judgment motion of

the Reimer & Koger defendants. The court concluded that, even though KPERS

pleaded one of its claims as a breach of the Special Investment Advisory

Services contract, the Kansas two-year tort statute would apply to all

KPERS’s claims against Reimer & Koger, because KPERS’s contract did not

call for a specific result, but simply required discharge of duties imposed

by law by virtue of 
-14-

the contract. Order of June 3, 1996, slip op. at 43-45 (citing Hunt v. KMG

Main Hurdman, 839 P.2d 45, 47 (Kan. Ct. App. 1992)).

 

Therefore, the court held that KPERS’s claims against the Reimer &

Koger defendants would be barred if they had accrued before June 5, 1989,

two years before KPERS filed suit against the Reimer & Koger defendants.

Id. at 45. Under Kansas law, the statute of limitation would begin to run

at the time it was reasonably ascertainable that the plaintiff had suffered

an injury caused by the defendant’s wrongdoing. Id. at 46 (citing

Dearborn Animal Clinic, P.A. v. Wilson, 806 P.2d 997 (Kan. 1991)). The

court held that the evidence showed the KPERS board of trustees had actual

knowledge before June 5, 1989, of the facts KPERS now alleges Reimer &

Koger failed to tell KPERS about: that Home Savings was no longer planning

to use KPERS's $50 million to buy the St. Louis savings and loan; that

Russell was a director of Home Savings and borrowed money from another

Morgan bank; and that Home Savings was engaged in risky real estate and

commercial lending. Id. at 47-48, 52.

Alternatively, the court held that even if the KPERS board did not

have actual knowledge about these things, Reimer & Koger’s knowledge could

be imputed to KPERS because Reimer & Koger was KPERS’s agent and an

agent’s knowledge can be imputed to its principal. Id. at 49-50.

The court also rejected KPERS’s argument that Reimer & Koger

concealed the facts from KPERS and therefore the statute should be tolled.

The court held that no reasonable finder of fact could conclude that Reimer

& Koger intentionally concealed information from KPERS. Id. at 54.
-15-

The court held that the same knowledge that caused KPERS’s claims

against Reimer & Koger to accrue before June 5, 1989 would also bar its

common law tort claims against the Home Savings defendants, which were

filed several months later than the claims against the Reimer & Koger

defendants. Id. at 60. KPERS also sued the Home Savings defendants for

statutory securities fraud, which has a three-year statute of limitation,

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-512; see Kelly v. Primeline Advisory, Inc., 889 P.2d

130, 134 (Kan. 1995). The court held that KPERS had knowledge of the key

facts by December 23, 1988, which meant that its statutory claims against

the Home Savings defendants were also barred. Order of June 3, 1996, slip

op. at 61.

The claims against Shook Hardy and Blackwell Sanders were even more

obviously barred, since Shook Hardy did not move to intervene until October

14, 1994, id. at 64, and KPERS did not sue Blackwell Sanders until January

6, 1995, id. at 67. The same facts relevant to the claims against the

other defendants barred KPERS’s suits against these two law firms long

before the suits were brought. Id. at 64-65, 69.

In a separate order, the court held that the claims against the Peat

Marwick defendants were barred by the two-year statute of limitation.

KPERS claims Peat Marwick misled it by signing off on audits of KPERS

without advising KPERS that its Home Savings investments were impaired or

that it should establish an investment allowance account. The court

pointed to a number of facts that would cause the statute to begin running

before December 23, 1989, including the fact that Peat Marwick stated in

its 1987 and 1988 auditor’s reports that some of KPERS’s direct placement

investments were impaired and recommended that KPERS establish an

investment allowance account. Order of July 25, 1996, slip op. at 21.

Moreover, by September 30, 1989, after an audit by a new auditor, 
-16-

Baird, Kurtz & Dobson, KPERS established an investment allowance account

and wrote off a portion of its direct placement investments. Id. at 22.

I.

KPERS makes threshold legal arguments that its claims are not subject

to any statute of limitation. 

We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. See Uhl v. Swanstrom,

79 F.3d 751, 754 (8th Cir. 1996). Summary judgment is proper when there

is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to

judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); see Celotex Corp. v.

Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). We also review de novo the district

court's determination of questions of state law. See Salve Regina College

v. Russell, 499 U.S. 225, 231 (1991).

In KPERS III we held that Missouri limitations law governed this case

and that under Missouri's borrowing statute the Kansas two- and three-year

statutes of limitation applied to KPERS's claims if those statutes fully

barred the claims. 61 F.3d at 614-16. The law of the case doctrine

prevents the relitigation of a settled issue in a case and requires courts

to adhere to decisions made in earlier proceedings. See Little Earth of

the United Tribes, Inc. v. United States Dep't of Hous. & Urban Dev., 807

F.2d 1433, 1441 (8th Cir. 1986). The law of the case doctrine applies to

issues decided implicitly as well as those decided explicitly. Id. at

1438. We are satisfied that the law of the case doctrine prevents KPERS

from relitigating the issue of whether these statutes apply to its claims.

See United States v. Duchi, 944 F.2d 391, 392-93 (8th Cir. 1991). We

recognize that the law of the case 
KPERS argues that the Missouri common law doctrine of 10

nullum tempus occurrit regi bars all statutes from running

against a claim by the state. The Kansas Supreme Court has held

in State Highway Commission v. Steele, 528 P.2d 1242, 1243-44

(Kan. 1974), that enactment of section 60-521, Kan. Stat. Ann. §

60-521 (1994), abolishes this doctrine where public bodies are

operating in a proprietary capacity. Further, the doctrine has

been applied by most states only to actions brought by a state in

its own courts. See, e.g., Pennhurst State Sch. v. Estate of

Goodhartz, 200 A.2d 112, 116 (N.J. 1964).

-17-

doctrine does not apply when it results in a manifest injustice, and

therefore we briefly discuss the merits of KPERS's arguments for exemption

from the statutes of limitation.

A.

KPERS argues that its investment in Home Savings was a governmental

function, and therefore, its claims arising out of that investment are not

subject to any statute of limitation.

The Kansas Supreme Court has stated that "[m]aintaining KPERS is a

proprietary function of the state." In re Midland Indus., 703 P.2d 840,

843 (Kan. 1985) (discussing the holding of Shapiro v. KPERS, 532 P.2d 1081

(Kan. 1975)). In Shapiro, the Kansas Supreme Court rejected the argument

that sovereign immunity barred payment of interest on a claim for benefits

made by an employee's widow. Shapiro, 532 P.2d at 1085. Shapiro looked

to the statutes creating KPERS as a body corporate with the power to sue

and be sued, and held that if a government enters into business ordinarily

reserved to the field of private enterprise, it should be held to the same

responsibilities and liabilities. Id. at 1083-84. A member of KPERS or

his beneficiary should be provided the same protection and the same redress

as if the breach of contract had been committed by a private insurance

company. Id. at 1084-85. While the issue in Shapiro involved a claim for

benefits only, Midland's explanation of the holding in Shapiro demonstrates

the broad scope of the ruling. These clear holdings compel rejection of

KPERS's argument.10
KPERS argues that we should certify to the Kansas Supreme 11

Court several issues presented in its appeal, including the issue

of governmental immunity. In KPERS III we decided that the

Missouri borrowing statute required the application of the Kansas

two- and three-year statutes of limitation. 61 F.3d at 615. 

KPERS's petitions for rehearing en banc and for certiorari were

denied. Our ruling in KPERS III is the law of the case, and we

reject the suggestion that these issues be certified to another

tribunal.

-18-

Indeed, the Kansas legislature in enacting section 60-522, Kan. Stat.

Ann. § 60-522 (1994), which we discussed at length in KPERS III, has

acknowledged that statutes of limitation run as to claims asserted by

KPERS.

KPERS has made extended arguments that its operations are

governmental functions as opposed to proprietary. The Kansas Supreme Court

has made clear that an activity is a proprietary function if it is

commercial in character, usually carried on by private parties, or

conducted for profit. See Carroll v. Kittle, 457 P.2d 21, 28 (Kan. 1969);

State ex rel. Schneider v. McAfee, 578 P.2d 281, 283 (Kan. Ct. App. 1978).

KPERS's actions arising from its investment activities meet this

description fully, and do not differ from the suit for contractual benefits

involved in Shapiro.

Similarly, KPERS argues that the investments are governmental because

the profits reduce the burden on Kansas taxpayers to fund KPERS, the funds

were invested to stimulate the Kansas economy, and Kansas statutes require

the funds to be invested. Insofar as these arguments are not answered by

those cases we have cited above, the Kansas Supreme Court's decisions in

Wendler v. City of Great Bend, 316 P.2d 265, 269, 274 (Kan. 1957), and

Grover v. City of Manhattan, 424 P.2d 256, 259 (Kan. 1967), compel

rejection of KPERS's arguments. This analysis also forecloses KPERS's

11

argument 
-19-

that its claims against Peat Marwick arise out of governmental functions.

B.

KPERS argues that its claims are not subject to a statute of

limitation because they are actions to recover from a former officer or

employee for his breach of duty. See Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-521 (1994).

KPERS did not raise this argument in the district court. KPERS contends

that this failure is excused because it raised this argument in the state

trial court before this case was removed to the district court.

We have often stated that we will not consider arguments that were

not presented first to the district court. See Roth v. G.D. Searle & Co.,

27 F.3d 1303, 1307 (8th Cir. 1994). If KPERS intended to rely on its

breach-of-duty argument, it should have presented that argument to the

district court in opposition to the defendants' motions for summary

judgment. We refuse to consider KPERS's breach-of-duty argument.

C.

KPERS also argues that the state trial court held that KPERS's claims

were not subject to a statute of limitation because the defendants

participated in a former officer's breach of duty and that the district

court could not ignore the state court's holding. Again, KPERS did not

present this argument to the district court, 
-20-

and we reject KPERS's attempt to raise this argument for the first time

before this court. See id.

II.

KPERS argues that the district court erred in its conclusion that

KPERS had sufficient knowledge to start the statute of limitation running

on its claims before December 23, 1988.

KPERS argues that the facts do not show it had knowledge by December

1986 that Home Savings was no longer seeking to acquire the St. Louis

savings and loan that Koger advised it about in his June 6, 1986 letter to

Russell proffering the opportunity to invest $50 million in Home Savings.

First, KPERS contends that the statements the district court cited were

only statements that Home Savings would probably not buy the St. Louis

savings and loan, and that statements of probability are not enough to

start the statute of limitation running. (KPERS does not deny that it had

knowledge of the statements that the acquisition was unlikely). To the

contrary, Kansas law does not require that the plaintiff have ironclad

actual knowledge about his injury, but rather that he have such notice as

would permit him to discover the injury with the use of due diligence.

"'Reasonably ascertainable' does not mean 'actual knowledge.'" Davidson

v. Denning, 914 P.2d 936, 948 (Kan. 1996). Accord Miller v. Foulston,

Siefkin, Powers & Eberhardt, 790 P.2d 404, 417 (Kan. 1990); Brueck v.

Krings, 638 P.2d 904, 908 (Kan. 1982); Kelley v. Barnett, 932 P.2d 471,

476-77 (Kan. Ct. App. 1997). The public statements that the St. Louis

acquisition was unlikely were enough to put KPERS on notice that its money

might not be used to buy the St. Louis thrift.
-21-

KPERS contends that there is an issue of fact about whether it

learned before 1990 that the St. Louis acquisition did not go through.

KPERS points to a memo from outside counsel in Reimer & Koger’s files

asking: "Was it ever explained to KPERS that [Home Savings] did not buy

a big St. Louis association?" Next to this question is the handwritten

response, "No." Even if we took this memo as evidence that Reimer & Koger

did not tell KPERS the St. Louis deal did not happen, there is still no

question but that KPERS was on inquiry notice from other sources cited by

the district court, including the November 13, 1986 article in the Kansas

City Star which stated that Home Savings had "pretty much dropped" the St.

Louis deal from consideration. See Brueck, 638 P.2d at 908 (fact of injury

reasonably ascertainable from press reports); see also Davidson, 914 P.2d

at 947 (plaintiff charged with knowledge of coroner's report). The fact

that KPERS enjoyed a fiduciary relation with Reimer & Koger does not

relieve KPERS of the obligation to exercise due diligence. See Miller, 790

P.2d at 417.

KPERS contends that the district court erred in imputing to KPERS

Reimer & Koger’s knowledge of the abandonment of the St. Louis deal. It

is not necessary for us to decide whether Reimer & Koger could benefit from

the imputation of its knowledge to KPERS. Cf. Wietharn v. Safeway Stores,

Inc., 820 P.2d 719, 722-23 (Kan. Ct. App. 1991). The district court only

mentioned imputing Reimer & Koger’s knowledge to KPERS as an alternative

ground, there being other evidence, both press reports and statements that

were actually communicated to KPERS, that established notice independently.

Order of June 3, 1996, slip op. at 48. For instance, KPERS's executive

secretary received a copy of an internal Reimer & Koger memorandum from

October 1986 saying the St. Louis deal was "probably dead." Moreover,

after Home Savings had failed in its bid for the St. Louis thrift, Reimer

& Koger issued 
-22-

letters of intent to KPERS stating that the money would be used by Home

Savings for "general corporate purposes." But most telling, the Kansas

City Star article of November 13, 1986 highlighted the discrepancy between

the original plan to use the $50 million to buy a St. Louis thrift and the

current situation in which the St. Louis deal had likely been abandoned and

the parties had not announced specific plans for what to do with the money.

Thus, there is no need to impute Reimer & Koger's knowledge to KPERS to

conclude that the limitations periods necessarily expired before KPERS

filed its claims.

KPERS also argues that even knowledge that Home Savings did not buy

the St. Louis savings and loan would not have started the statute running,

since this would not have shown wrongdoing by Home Savings. This argument

is difficult to reconcile with KPERS's complaint, since KPERS pleaded as

one instance of fraud that the Home Savings defendants represented they

would use the $50 million to acquire the St. Louis savings and loan,

whereas the defendants knew when they received the money that they would

not so use it. If KPERS now contends that the untruth it alleged is "no

wrongdoing," we can only conclude that KPERS has abandoned this theory of

fraud, making any discussion of the statutes of limitation moot. This

argument certainly does not lead to reversal of the district court's entry

of summary judgment.

KPERS also argues that the district court relied on knowledge imputed

from Reimer & Koger to conclude that KPERS knew of Home Savings’s

involvement in risky lending for the benefit of its affiliate banks and its

violation of the standby purchasers agreement and other banking

regulations. Again, any such imputation was superfluous, there being

sufficient proof that 
KPERS also states that the district court relied on Koger’s 12

testimony about conversations with KPERS’s executive secretary that

the executive secretary denied. The "denial" KPERS cites is

simply: "I have no recollection of being informed that [Home

Savings] was in violation of contract or federal regulations

concerning affiliated transactions, and I have no reason to believe

I ever received such information." But since other, undisputed

evidence exists which is sufficient to support the summary

judgment, we need not decide if the secretary’s lack of

recollection would be sufficient to create a material issue of fact

as to whether the conversations Koger testified about took place.

The district court pointed to many other instances of notice 13

before the Kansas City Business Journal article. Because the

article is sufficient to establish notice, we have no need to

discuss the other evidence.

-23-

knowledge of these facts was public information well within the relevant

period.12

The existence of regulatory problems and unusual credit risk was made

explicit and public by the Kansas City Business Journal article of

September 12, 1988, which reported severe criticisms of Home Savings by

federal savings and loan regulators. The article stated: 

[A] letter sent 11 weeks ago to Home Savings by federal savings

and loan regulators told the thrift to sever its relationships

with other Morgan-group banks because they violated savings and

loan regulations and contravened an agreement Morgan and

Dreiseszun entered into when they acquired [Home Savings] in

1985. . . . The letter, which was sent by the Federal Home

Loan Bank of Des Moines, Iowa, on June 20, also criticized loan

underwriting procedures at the thrift, expressed concern about

its low level of capital under generally accepted accounting

principles (GAAP) and strongly recommended that it employ a

compliance officer.

Such public knowledge is sufficient under Kansas law to put KPERS on notice

that it had been injured. See Brueck, 638 P.2d at 908. If the two-year

tort statute began to run when this article was published on September 12,

1988, it expired before June 5, 1991, 13
-24-

when KPERS sued the Reimer & Koger defendants. The three-year statute

applicable to the securities fraud claims against the Home Savings

defendants would then have expired before December 23, 1991, when KPERS

sued those defendants.

As for the alleged failure to reveal Russell’s relationship with Home

Savings, KPERS contends that the statute did not begin to run when it

discovered the facts that Russell had been a Home Savings director and that

he had obtained a $40 million loan from a Morgan bank shortly after the

KPERS investment in Home Savings. KPERS says that it exercised due

diligence after learning of these facts, since the Kansas Attorney General

Robert Stephan investigated the issue and concluded that Russell had not

transgressed Kansas ethics laws. Therefore, KPERS says, under Dearborn

Animal Clinic, P.A. v. Wilson, 806 P.2d 997, 1006 (Kan. 1991), and Gilger

v. Lee Construction, Inc., 820 P.2d 390 (Kan. 1991), its injury was not

"reasonably ascertainable" until a 1991 Kansas legislative investigation

indicated that the loans to Russell were not arms' length transactions, but

were made after Russell's previous loans were in trouble.

 

In Dearborn Animal Clinic and Gilger, the plaintiffs relied on

representations by the defendant or by third parties that put them off the

trail of the alleged tort. Dearborn Animal Clinic was a malpractice action

against a lawyer who was asked to draft a contract to sell stock, but

instead drafted an option contract that did not obligate the buyer to

purchase the stock. When the buyer refused to go through with the sale,

the sellers retained a new lawyer, who filed suit to enforce the agreement

on the theory that it required the purchaser to buy the stock. 806 P.2d

at 1006. The 
-25-

Kansas Supreme Court stated that the statute did not begin to run when the

purchaser refused to go through with the sale, since the sellers were

entitled to rely on the expertise of their new lawyer, who was still

attempting to enforce their original understanding of the agreement.

However, the record made clear that by the time the sellers answered

interrogatories in their case against the buyer, they knew their contract

did not actually require the purchaser to buy their stock. Id. at 1007.

At that time, the statute began to run. Id. In Gilger, the plaintiffs

were poisoned by carbon monoxide from an improperly vented furnace. One

of the plaintiffs consulted doctors who misdiagnosed her problems. Gilger

v. Lee Constr., Inc., 798 P.2d 495, 497 (Kan. Ct. App. 1990). She also

contacted two of the defendants, who told her the furnace was working

properly. 820 P.2d at 393. Finally, the plaintiffs sought another opinion

and were informed that their furnace was improperly vented. 798 P.2d at

502. The Kansas Court of Appeals held that there was a question of fact

as to whether the statute began to run before the plaintiffs received the

opinion that the furnace was improperly vented. The Kansas Supreme Court

affirmed in relevant part. 820 P.2d at 400-01.

In contrast to Dearborn and Gilger, the plaintiff in this case claims

that it was entitled to rely on its own investigation that failed to

uncover facts that were actually public knowledge. Throughout this

litigation, KPERS has stressed its identity with the state of Kansas.

KPERS claims it relied on the report of the Attorney General of Kansas, who

is not a defendant or a third party, but who acts for the state of Kansas.

The Kansas Attorney General did not discuss Russell’s loans in his report.

KPERS does not dispute the fact that the existence of those loans was laid

bare for the readership of the Kansas City Star. In fact, the Star article

quotes the Attorney General as saying he would undertake an investigation

as a result of the Star story. The Attorney 
-26-

General's report concluded that Russell's former position as Home Savings

director did not violate existing Kansas statutes, and that the existing

laws were sufficient to address the "most egregious" conflicts. The

Attorney General stressed the importance of having "successful businessmen"

on the KPERS board and concluded that some "borderline" situations might

be an inevitable concomitant of having such board members. Whatever the

reason for the Attorney General's failure to discuss the loans, a

plaintiff's choice not to follow up on information in his possession cannot

benefit the plaintiff and disadvantage the defendants. Gilger and Dearborn

require a plaintiff to exercise due diligence. KPERS cannot use the Kansas

Attorney General’s report to toll the statute against the defendants. 

KPERS also argues that the district court erred in saying that the

statute of limitation began to run before December 1 and December 8, 1987,

when the $15 million and $35 million components of the $50 million

investment finally closed. The district court held that the statute began

to run in December 1986, see, e.g., Order of June 3, 1996, slip op. at 51;

whereas, the $50 million was actually invested and reinvested several

times, with the last issues of subordinated debentures occurring on

December 1 and 7, 1987. However, the fact that KPERS may have chosen to

reinvest the money after becoming aware of the facts it says were initially

hidden from it does not change the result here. If KPERS contends that it

invested its money after it knew or should have known of the relevant

facts, then it concedes away the reliance element of its fraud claims.

This argument may moot the statute of limitation question, but it does not

affect the propriety of the district court’s grant of summary judgment

against KPERS. In any case, even if the statute began to run on the date

of the last investment, December 7, 1987, the relevant two- and three-year

periods still 
-27-

expired before KPERS filed suit. Therefore, this argument does not help

KPERS.

KPERS argues that the Reimer & Koger defendants’ breaches of duty

continued into 1990, when Reimer & Koger allegedly concealed facts about

Home Savings’s financial condition in order to induce KPERS to trade its

subordinated debentures for preferred stock. If this argument is meant to

establish a tort based on KPERS's conversion from debt to equity, KPERS has

made concessions fatal to its claim. The district court recited: "KPERS

agrees that its 'ultimate recovery following the OTS takeover was in no way

different due to the conversion from debt to equity which occurred in March

of 1990.'" Order of June 3, 1996, slip op. at 36.

KPERS contends that the district court improperly constricted KPERS’s

claims against the Peat Marwick defendants to: failing to tell KPERS its

Home Savings investment was impaired; and failing to tell it to establish

an investment allowance account. KPERS says that this ignores its

allegations that Peat Marwick was the auditor for Home Savings. KPERS

alleges Peat Marwick did not reveal a conflict of interest so profound that

it should have disqualified Peat Marwick from auditing Home Savings,

because, among other things, the managing partner of Peat Marwick’s local

office was deeply indebted to Home Savings and other Morgan banks and was

in financial distress. These allegations do not constitute a separate

cause of action, but are only an elaboration on the basic contention that

Peat Marwick failed to alert KPERS to its losses on the Home Savings

investment, which kept KPERS from discovering the other defendants'

breaches of duty and from acting to stop its losses. The district court

held that KPERS was put on notice that the 1987 and 1988 financials did not

reflect the true value of the direct placement investments and that this

notice occurred at least by the date of the successor auditor's report

(September 30, 1989) 
-28-

showing as much as $75 million in impaired investments. Order of July 25,

1996, slip op. at 22. Pointing to additional facts KPERS claims it did not

know cannot relieve KPERS of the consequences of what it clearly did know.

KPERS contends that the successor auditor's finding that the direct

placement investments were impaired did not include a specific finding that

the Home Savings investment was impaired. Again, Kansas law does not

require that the plaintiff have particularized knowledge of the facts of

the negligence, but rather that the plaintiff respond to such notice as

would cause a reasonably diligent person to investigate. See Kelley v.

Barnett, 932 P.2d at 477. After learning there was a problem with the

valuation of its direct placement investments, KPERS was not entitled to

sit idly by waiting for Peat Marwick to cite chapter and verse.

III.

KPERS also argues that the district court erred in denying it

permission to amend its Sixth Amended Complaint to state a claim against

the Peat Marwick defendants for breach of contract. The district court set

February 1, 1995, as a deadline to amend pleadings, and KPERS filed this

motion on November 15, 1995. Denying an eleventh-hour request to amend a

Sixth Amended Complaint after the deadline for such amendments has passed

is a decision well within the district court's discretion. See Williams

v. Little Rock Mun. Water Works, 21 F.3d 218, 224 (8th Cir. 1994). We will

not reverse on this ground. In any event, KPERS's argument that its claims

against Reimer & Koger and Peat Marwick could sound in contract is contrary

to Kansas law, since KPERS does not allege breach of a contract to achieve

a specific result. See KPERS v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., No. 75,487, 1997

WL 186988, at *3 (Kan. 
-29-

April 18, 1997); Hunt v. KMG Main Hurdman, 839 P.2d 45, 48 (Kan. Ct. App.

1992).

IV.

To preserve its position for further proceedings, KPERS renews its

argument that we erred in affirming the injunction in KPERS IV, 77 F.3d at

1065. KPERS acknowledges that the KPERS IV decision is law of the case;

therefore, we need not discuss this argument.

We affirm the orders of the district court.

A true copy.

Attest:

 CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.