Cottonport Bank v. Roy
Cottonport Bank v. Roy
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff/appellee, trustee for the bankruptcy estate of the law firm of Chris J. Roy, of Alexandria, Louisiana, filed a petition in the bankruptcy court seeking to establish that an alleged pledge by the law firm to the defendant/appellant, Cottonport Bank, was unperfected and unenforceable against the bankruptcy estate. The bankruptcy court determined that there was not a valid pledge. The district court affirmed. Because we agree that the parties did not perfect a pledge under Louisiana law, we AFFIRM.
I.
In 1989, the law firm of Chris J. Roy filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy. Wade Kelly was appointed as permanent trustee of the law firm’s bankruptcy estate. Kelly filed a complaint in the bankruptcy court seeking to establish that a pre-bankruptcy pledge of a contingency fee to Cottonport Bank, the appellant, was unperfected and unenforceable.
The firm earned the fee for its handling of a case on behalf of its client, Juneau, against American Honda Motor Company. In 1986, Roy executed a document which purported to “pledge and assign” 25 percent of the fee interest in the Juneau case to Cottonport Bank
Before the first payment in 1988, Roy wrote a letter to Reliance which instructed that the check should be made payable to the firm and Cottonport as joint payees.
Kelly, acting as trustee, filed a petition with the bankruptcy court seeking to recover the earlier payments and ensure that the last two payments would be paid to the bankruptcy estate of the firm. Kelly alleged in his petition that neither a valid assignment nor pledge had been created between the parties and, accordingly, the transaction could not be enforced against the trustee.
The bankruptcy court determined that the parties had created a valid assignment and dismissed Kelly’s complaint. The district court reversed that decision and ordered that the paid funds be returned to the estate and that the remaining payments were the property of the estate. On appeal, this Court affirmed the district court’s decision that there was not a valid assignment. This Court, however, reversed and remanded the case for the bankruptcy court to determine whether the transaction between the parties was a valid, enforceable pledge. The bankruptcy court, on remand, concluded that there was not a perfected pledge and entered a judgment in favor of the trustee. The district court affirmed. The appellant, Cot-tonport Bank, currently appeals on the issue of whether there was a perfected pledge.
II.
The Louisiana Civil Code defines a pledge as a contract “by which one debtor gives something to his creditor as a security for his debt”.
In this case, the written instruments executed by Chris Roy which purport to pledge the Juneau fee seem to indicate Roy’s intent to secure the debts owed to Cotton-port with the firm’s interest in the Juneau fee. The district court, however, concluded that these agreements fail as evidence of a meeting of the minds since they lack specifies regarding the debt secured and the property pledged. The appellant, Cottonport Bank, responds by citing the Louisiana First Circuit Court’s decision in Citizens Bank & Trust v. Consolidated Terminal Warehouse, Inc.
In Citizens Bank, a vendor of timber made it a practice to pledge to its bank invoices reflecting money owed to the vendor by his customers.
For value received, we hereby pledge and convey the within invoice to Citizens Bank & Trust, Plaquemine, La., as collateral attached to my note with full power and authority and in my name to collect the amount of said invoice and you are hereby requested to remit to them direct.13
The Louisiana First Circuit Court first concluded that under La.Rev.Stat. 9:4321-
In this case, Cottonport Bank and Roy executed some form of agreement. Also, the funds loaned to Roy increased with the percentage of the Juneau fee pledged. It seems clear that both Roy and Cottonport Bank intended that Roy’s interest in the fees was pledged to secure the loan to Roy by Cotton-port Bank. Thus, we disagree with the district court and find that there was sufficient evidence of the intent to pledge.
The remaining issues are the identity of the obligor and whether the obligor received written notice or sent a written acknowledgement. The appellant argues that notice to the obligor is not required to perfect the pledge between itself and the firm’s estate. This assertion, however, is contrary to the specific requirements of the revised statutes and the caselaw.
Reliance was obligated under the settlement agreement to pay the law firm the fee. As noted by the district court, however, “Union Pacific is listed as the obligor on the annuity contract”.
I understand that neither I nor my corporation are permitted to assign my interest in this matter to anyone that would be binding upon you; nevertheless, I have assigned my interest in my attorney’s fees to the Central Bank & Trust Company [aka Cottonport Bank] and would appreciate your having the $100,000 check due me on December 15, 1988, made payable to Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation) and Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Company.17
Based on this letter, the appellant argues that Reliance received notice of the pledge. The letter itself, however, fails to identify the transaction as a pledge nor does it identify the debt secured. Further, this was the only payment that Roy instructed Reliance to pay to the firm and the appellant as joint payees. The remaining payments were paid either to Roy or to his brother, as per Roy’s instructions. Although the extent of the notice required under La.Rev.Stat. 9:4323 is unclear, we hold that the single payment instruction sent to Reliance by Roy was insufficient to constitute notice. Thus, the pledge was not perfected and it is unenforceable against the bankruptcy estate.
III.
Based on the agreements between the firm and the appellant bank, sufficient evidence of a meeting of the minds on the creation of the pledge was presented. The notice sent to Reliance, however, was insufficient to satisfy the notice requirement in La.Rev.Stat. 9:4323. We, therefore, AFFIRM the decision of the district court.
. The appellant bank is also referred to in the briefs of the parties as Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Company or CENLA.
. The document executed by Roy and Cottonport Bank, entitled “act of assignment,” provided, in pertinent part:
For and in consideration of the loan to Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation), Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation) and Chris J. Roy, individually, pledge and assign to the Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Company [aka Cottonport Bank] an undivided twenty-five (25%) per cent interest in the attorney’s fees to be earned in the following cases, to-wit:
1. Barry and Cynthia Juneau v. American Honda Motor Company, Docket Number 83-4534, Twelfth Judicial District.
Record, volume 1 at 144.
.The second document executed by Roy, also entitled "act of assignment,” provides:
*170 For and in consideration of the loan to Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation), Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation) and Chris J. Roy, individually, pledge and assign to the Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Company [aka Cottonport Bank] an undivided fifty (50%) per cent interest in the attorney's fees earned and to be earned in the following cases, to-wit:
1. Barry and Cynthia Juneau v. American Honda Motor Company, Docket Number 83-4534, Twelfth Judicial District.
Record, volume 1 at 148. The document was amended further on December 16, 1988 when, at the written request of Roy, a handwritten notation increased the percentage of the Juneau fee assigned or pledged to Cottonport Bank to 100%. See, Record, volume 1 at 149.
.The letter stated:
I understand that neither I nor my corporation are permitted to assign my interest in this matter to anyone that would be binding upon you; nevertheless, I have assigned my interest in my attorney's fees to the Central Bank & Trust Company [aka Cottonport Bank] and would appreciate your having the $100,000 check due me on December 15, 1988, made payable to Chris J. Roy (A Law Corporation) and Central Louisiana Bank & Trust Company. Record, volume 2 at 205.
. La.Civil Code article 3133.
. La.Civil Code article 3152 provides:
it is essential to the contract of pledge that the creditor be put in possession of the thing given to him in pledge, and consequently that actual delivery of it be made to him, unless he has possession of it already by some other right.
. La.Rev.Stat. 9:4321 provides:
Claims, credits, obligations, and incorporeal rights in general not evidenced by written instrument or muniment of title, shall be subject to pledge, and may be pledged in the same manner as other property.
Further, La.Rev.Stat. 9:4322 provides:
The pledge shall be valid as to all persons without delivery of the claim, credit, obligation, or incorporeal right to the pledgee.
. Vaughn Flying Service v. Costanza, 590 F.Supp. 1077, 1080-81 (W.D.La. 1984); Bank of Coushatta v. Patrick, 503 So.2d 1061, 1065 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1987); Citizens Bank & Trust Co. v. Consolidated Terminal Warehouse, Inc., 460 So.2d 663, 668 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1984). For further discussion of the requirements for a perfected pledge of an incorporeal right not evidenced in writing, see Charles M. Pisano, Comment, Formal Requirements of Pledge Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3158 & Related Articles, 48 La.L.Rev. 129, 159-163 (1987).
. La.Rev.Stat. 9:4323 provides:
To bind the obligor to pay the amount due to the pledgee, notice of the pledge shall be given in writing to the obligor or shall be acknowledged in writing by him.
Notice to the obligor is required under the statutes to perfect the pledge. See, Vaughn Flying Service, 590 F.Supp. at 1081; Bank of Coushatta, 503 So.2d at 1065; Taylor v. Camel, 586 So.2d 151, 151 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1991). There is some question as to what is required to bind third parties. For a pledge to be effective against third parties, courts may require a written instrument which states the amount of the debt secured by the pledge and the nature of the property pledged. Citizens Bank and Trust, 460 So.2d at 669, (holding that to be effective against third parties, there must be written evidence of the pledge which states the amount of the debt secured and the nature of the thing pledged); In re Schrewe, 108 B.R. 116, 118 (E.D.La. 1989) (holding that a “pledge doe not effect third parties unless 'the pledge is proved by some written instrument [that states] the species and nature of the thing given in pledge' ”) (quoting La.Civil Code article 3158), but see, Vaughn Flying Service, 590 F.Supp. at 1081 (holding that a pledge is "valid and effective against third parties without a written act of pledge stating the amount of the debt secured”). This conflict is based on differing interpretations of the Code and revised statutes. According to some courts, pledges of incorporeal movables not evidenced in writing still must meet the requirements of Civil Code article 3158(A).
. 460 So.2d 663 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1984).
. Id. at 667.
. Id.
. Id. at 669.
. Vaughn Flying Service, 590 F.Supp. at 1081 (noting that a pledge of this type of right "would be valid without the written act so long as written notice of the pledge is given to, or a written acknowledgment is received from, the obligor"); Taylor, 586 So.2d at 151 (holding that a pledge of an incorporeal movable not evidenced in writing was valid because the parties executed a pledge agreement and a representative of the obligor signed an acknowledgement); Bank of Coushatta, 503 So.2d at 1065 (noting that "[t]o perfect a valid pledge of an incorporeal not evidenced by a written instrument either an oral or written act of pledge is required along with written notice of the pledge to the obligor or written acknowledgement by the obligor”).
. Record, volume 4 at 563.
. Record, volume 2 at 205.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.