Opinion ID: 685627
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Issues Regarding Pretrial Procedure

Text: 10 In their factual and procedural history section, the Becherer plaintiffs drop a footnote to comment that the District Court denied them the opportunity to take discovery of Laventhol & Horwath, the accounting firm retained by SSG. This issue was not, however, raised in either the statement of issues or the argument sections of their brief. Thus, it has not been properly raised before this Court, and we will not address it. See United States v. Lanier, 33 F.3d 639 (6th Cir.1994). 11
Breach of Contract Claims 12 The District Court, acting pursuant to its powers under Fed.R.Civ.P. 16, 3 held an initial status conference on April 23, 1990. The Becherer plaintiffs challenge two actions arising out of that conference. First, they allege that the District Court violated their substantive rights by forcing them to forego valid fraud claims and to replead their claims under a breach of contract theory. This allegation is patently meritless. The District Court did not require that the Becherer plaintiffs forego their fraud claims. Indeed, a review of the District Court's opinion shows that the court addressed both the breach of contract and the fraud claims. Because the Becherer plaintiffs continued to pursue their fraud claims after amending their complaint, we cannot see how they suffered any prejudice. 13 At the pretrial conference, the court also categorized all of the Becherer plaintiffs' claims into three areas of fraud: 14 1) whether the offering materials fraudulently omitted the true identity and competitive impact of a proposed Ritz-Carlton hotel; 15 2) whether defendants fraudulently leased [furniture, fixtures, and equipment]; and 16 3) whether defendants fraudulently closed on the sale of the hotel interests. 17 In a footnote in their factual section, the Becherer plaintiffs claim they identified a fourth area of fraud, which the District Court ignored: whether defendants fraudulently extended the offering after they told the investors that the investors were irrevocably bound because the offering had been fully subscribed. It is far from clear that this issue was pursued in the district court. In addition, the Becherer plaintiffs did not raise this issue in either the statement of issues or the argument sections of their brief. It is subsumed somewhat in their issue regarding the breach of interim escrow duties claim. Thus, to the extent it is raised, we will address it under that issue. To the extent it is not part of that claim, it has not been properly raised before this Court, and we will not address it. See United States v. Lanier, 33 F.3d 639 (6th Cir.1994).