Filed: Feb. 21, 2020
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 21 2020 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ATTEBURY GRAIN LLC, No. 18-56325 A limited liability company, D.C. No. 2:15-cv-05258-R-PJW Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MEMORANDUM* GRAYN COMPANY, a corporation; VICENTE CORTEZ, an individual, Defendants-Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted January
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION FEB 21 2020 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ATTEBURY GRAIN LLC, No. 18-56325 A limited liability company, D.C. No. 2:15-cv-05258-R-PJW Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MEMORANDUM* GRAYN COMPANY, a corporation; VICENTE CORTEZ, an individual, Defendants-Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted January 2..
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FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
FEB 21 2020
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ATTEBURY GRAIN LLC, No. 18-56325
A limited liability company,
D.C. No. 2:15-cv-05258-R-PJW
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. MEMORANDUM*
GRAYN COMPANY, a corporation;
VICENTE CORTEZ, an individual,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted January 21, 2020
Pasadena, California
Before: RAWLINSON, CLIFTON, and BRESS, Circuit Judges.
In a prior appeal, this court affirmed summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff
Attebury Grain LLC for claims under California’s Uniform Voidable Transactions
Act (UVTA) arising from the fraudulent transfer of Superior Grain Co., a corn
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
processing business, to Defendants Vicente Cortez and Grayn Co. See Attebury
Grain LLC v. Grayn Co., 721 F. App’x 669, 671-72 (9th Cir. 2018). This court
reversed summary judgment on Attebury’s claim of unjust enrichment and
remanded for the district court to dismiss that claim and “determine the amount of
damages due on the fraudulent transfer claims alone.”
Id. at 672. On remand, the
district court awarded damages totaling $1,148,107.55, comprised of Attebury’s
$825,706.95 arbitration award against Superior plus prejudgment interest. We
affirm.
We reject Defendants’ argument on appeal that the district court violated this
court’s mandate by awarding damages without holding a hearing or taking
additional evidence on remand. Nothing in the mandate required the district court
to take such action.
We also reject Defendants’ argument that Superior transferred only its
equipment and corn inventory to Defendants. Defendants suggest that language in
this court’s memorandum disposition referring to the transfer of Superior’s
equipment and corn inventory establishes the “law of the case” that only such
assets were transferred. See Attebury Grain, 721 F. App’x at 671. However, the
language relied upon by Defendants does not amount to a holding as to the identity
of the assets transferred, which was not an issue before this court on appeal, and
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does not affect the unchallenged determination that Superior transferred
“substantially all” of its assets to Defendants.
The district court complied with this court’s mandate by determining the
amount of damages due on Attebury’s fraudulent transfer claims pursuant to the
UVTA, which allows damages based on either “the value of the asset
transferred . . . or the amount necessary to satisfy the creditor’s claim, whichever is
less.” Cal. Civ. Code § 3439.08(b)(1). The record shows that the district court had
sufficient evidence before it that the value of Superior’s entire business exceeded
the amount of the arbitration award. Therefore, the district court did not err in
awarding damages based on this latter amount.
AFFIRMED.
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