Court Opinion

ID: 9489999
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:29:55.758515+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:50.387696
License: Public Domain

LONGSTAFF, District Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur in Part II of the majority’s opinion determining that this Court has jurisdiction to consider the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment. The majority also affirms the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment in Part III of its opinion. Because a question of material fact exists regarding whether Melvyn Bell received the reasonably equivalent value for his transferred property, I respectfully dissent to Part III of the majority’s opinion.
As noted by the majority, a “nonmovant must present more than a scintilla of evidence and must advance specific facts to *266create a genuine issue of material fact for trial,” to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Rolscreen Co. v. Pella Prods. of St. Louis, Inc., 64 F.3d 1202, 1211 (8th Cir.1995). However, a “party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (quoting Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c)). In addition, in determining whether summary judgment is proper, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Barge v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 87 F.3d 256, 258 (8th Cir.1996).
To support its conclusion that the moving party established its right to summary judgment as a matter of law, the majority initially relies upon the testimony provided by Darlene Bell in an April 26,1991 hearing in state court concerning the approval of her property settlement agreement. In response to a question, Darlene Bell indicated that the “value and liability ” in the schedules used in her property settlement agreement with Melvyn Bell were accurate. It is true that the valuation schedules showed that Melvyn Bell received $1,407,538.00 less in net value, absent the contingent liability, than Darlene Bell. However, the valuation schedules also showed that Darlene Bell incurred a 1.85 million dollar contingent liability as a result of the property settlement. Construing Darlene Bell's testimony in the light most favorable to the nonmoving parties, I do not believe it supports the finding of an absence of a genuine issue of material fact concerning the issue of “reasonably equivalent value.” Rather, her testimony indicates that she received reasonably equivalent value in the property settlement.
Second, the majority discusses the nature of a contingent liability in concluding that the moving party fulfilled its initial burden. As recognized by the majority, a contingent liability should be discounted by the probability that the contingency will occur. See In re Xonics Photochemical, Inc., 841 F.2d 198, 199-200 (7th Cir.1988). However, this does not mean that a contingent liability should not receive any value.
The record before the district court failed to give any indication as to what the proper valuation of the contingent liability, at the time of the property settlement agreement, should be. Because the moving party in the present case failed to properly support its motion for summary judgment regarding the valuation of the contingent liability, the non-moving parties were not required to advance specific facts demonstrating that a genuine issue of material fact existed.10 See Heath v. John Morrell & Co., 768 F.2d 245, 249 (8th Cir.1985) (reversing the grant of summary judgment because the moving party failed to properly support its motion for summary judgment even though the nonmoving party failed to present opposing evidence) (citing Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 160, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1609-10, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Stubbs v. United States, 428 F.2d 885, 888 (9th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 1009, 91 S.Ct. 567, 27 L.Ed.2d 621 (1971)). While it may have been more prudent to resist the summary judgment motion by advancing specific evidence creating a contest*267ed issue of material fact, Darlene Bell and Bell Equities’ failure to do so should not result in the grant of partial summary judgment when the moving party failed to properly support its motion for summary judgment.
Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, the district court erred by concluding that the contingent liability should not receive any value. Partial summary judgment regarding the value of the contingent liability and whether Melvyn Bell received reasonably equivalent value for the transferred property should not have been granted. Therefore, I would reverse the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment against Darlene Bell and Bell Equities.

. Because the moving party, the FDIC, had no evidence demonstrating that the contingent liability was without value, for purposes of summary judgment, it must "affirmatively show the absence of evidence in the record" regarding the value of the contingent liability. See Hanson v. F.D.I.C., 13 F.3d 1247, 1253 (8th Cir.1994) (reversing the district court's grant of summary judgment because the moving party failed to demonstrate that there was no evidence negating an element of the nonmoving party’s case). As a result of the FDIC acknowledging the existence of the contingent liability by producing the valuation schedules to support their motion for summary judgment, "the FDIC would have needed to have affirmatively pointed to evidence or lack thereof” that the contingent liability was of no value. See Id. However, it failed to do so. In addition, the FDIC did not base its summary judgment motion on the argument that Darlene Bell and Bell Equities could not produce any evidence to support their valuation of the contingent liability. Rather, the FDIC asserted that the valuation schedule, on its face, indicated that Melvyn Bell did not receive reasonably equivalent value for the transferred property.