Opinion ID: 173907
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Palmer Family Account

Text: The Palmer family had been a Brundage client since the 1930s. During the fifteen to twenty years Branin had managed the account there, he developed a close friendship with Carleton Palmer, III, who represented the family for these purposes. The two men, along with their wives and children, socialized and vacationed together, and they owned homes in the same community and jointly owned a small fishing boat. Branin nonetheless did not notify Carleton Palmer or the Palmer family of his move from Bessemer to Stein Roe, nor did he contact them directly after the move. Indeed, the Palmer family first learned of Branin's change of employment through an employee of Bessemer. Upon learning of Branin's move to Stein Roe, Carleton Palmer called Branin at his home to get his account of the situation one that, Palmer testified, was very spare. Palmer followed up with a letter requesting specific information as to how the Palmer account might be handled at Stein Roe. Members of the Palmer family then scheduled back-to-back meetings on August 29, 2002, with Stein Roe and Bessemer to discuss the Palmer account. In anticipation of the meeting and at Branin's instance, Branin and other Stein Roe employees prepared what he described as a `dog and pony [show]' for a `LARGE client relationship that I am hoping will join [Stein Roe].' Bessemer I, 427 F.Supp.2d at 391 (quoting Pl.'s Trial Ex. 103, e-mail from Branin to Ronald Fisher and Eric Propper dated August 2, 2002) (first brackets added; block caps in original). On August 22, 2002, Stein Roe held a strategy session organized by Branin during which he provided other Stein Roe employees with information about Carleton Palmer and about the nature of, and investment philosophy for, the Palmer account. According to the trial testimony of Carleton Palmer, during the subsequent meeting between Palmer and Stein Roe, Branin played almost no role, Trial Tr. at 817, and pretty much sat over in the corner and kept quiet, id. at 776-77, other than to introduce Carleton Palmer to the firm and occasionally amplify a point if he knew it was something [the Palmers] would be interested in, id. at 776. Following the meetings, the Palmer family remained unsure about whether to move their investment accounts to Stein Roe. The Palmers therefore invited Branin to Ohio to make a specific proposal on behalf of that company, an invitation which he accepted. During that visit, Branin informed the Palmer family that they would pay the same fees at Stein Roe that they were then paying at Bessemer, and that the president of Stein Roe would be the number two on the family account. Id. at 787, 816. The next day, on September 17, 2002, the Palmer family moved their account to Stein Roe. Carleton Palmer testified that he chose Stein Roe over Bessemer because he was more impressed by Stein Roe's senior management. He also thought that he would be a much more important client at Stein Roe because the firm had fewer large clients than Bessemer, making the family account a big fish in a small pond. Id. at 785.