United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

28 F.
3d 1099
RESOLUTION TRUST CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.
James M. ARTLEY, et al., Defendants, Third-Party Plaintiffs,
Appellants,
International Insurance Company, Inc., Defendant,
Third-Party Defendant,
The Cincinnati Company, Defendant, Third-Party Defendant.
No. 93-9021.
United States Court of Appeals,

Eleventh Circuit.
Aug. 12, 1994.
C.B. Rogers, John J. Almond, Susan D. Burnell, Rogers & Hardin,

Atlanta, GA, Joseph B. Gray, Jr., Simpson & Gray, Tifton, GA, Rebecca
M. Lamberth, Peter Q. Bassett, Alston & Bird, Atlanta, GA, for
appellants.
John M. Tatum, Michael J. Thomerson, Miller, Simpson & Tatum,
Savannah, GA, for John Carey Monroe.
Keith A. Hanson, Hanson & Peters, Chicago, IL, for Cincinnati Ins.
Albert Fendig, Jr., Gilbert C. McLemore, Donna L. Crossland, Fendig,
McLemore, Taylor & Whitworth, Brunswick, GA, for Resolution Trust.
Stephen Jacobs, William A. Edelson, Louis G. Corsi, Siff & Rosen, New
York City, for International Ins. Co.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Georgia.
Before EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge, GODBOLD and JOHNSON,
Senior Circuit Judges.
EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge:
The district court applied the federal common law doctrine of "adverse
domination" to toll the state statute of limitations governing plaintiff's claims.
We decide, under Georgia law, that the limitations period was not tolled and
that the limitation is a bar to all but one of plaintiff's claims. So, we must
reverse and remand.
I.
2
Defendants are former officers and directors of Great Southern Federal Savings
Bank ("Great Southern," or the "Bank"). In the mid-1980's, the Bank
experienced substantial losses on real estate loans. In June 1989, the Federal
Home Loan Bank Board placed Great Southern in receivership, appointing the
FSLIC as the Bank's receiver. In August 1989, the Financial Institutions
Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 ("FIRREA"), abolished
FSLIC and created the Resolution Trust Corporation ("RTC"), which
succeeded FSLIC as Great Southern's receiver.
RTC filed this suit in 1992, attacking defendants' lending practices. The
complaint accused defendants of negligence, gross negligence, breach of
fiduciary duty and breach of contract (but not of fraud) in connection with
eighteen separate loans on thirteen projects; the loans ranged in time between
August 1982 and August 1985. Defendants moved for partial summary
judgment, arguing that most of RTC's claims were time-barred. The district
court denied defendants' motion after concluding that application of the adverse
domination1 doctrine was "clearly consistent with federal policy." Defendants
appeal.
II.
4
FIRREA provides a federal statute of limitations system for claims brought by

the RTC as receiver.2 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1821(d)(14)(A) & (B). The statute "has
been interpreted not to revive stale state law claims acquired by the FDIC."
F.D.I.C. v. Dawson, 4 F.3d 1303, 1307 (5th Cir.1993); see also Resolution
Trust Corp. v. Seale, 13 F.3d 850, 853 (5th Cir.1994) ("the federal government
has no right to pursue a case after old limitations periods have expired"). "[T]he
district court must first determine whether the claims being brought by the
[RTC] were viable under the applicable state statute of limitations at the time
the [RTC] was appointed receiver. If the state statute has not yet run, the period
provided by 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1821(d)(14)(A) then begins to run." Dawson, 4
F.3d at 1307.
The district court correctly decided that Georgia's four-year statute of
limitations governs RTC's claims. See Council v. Brown, 151 Ga. 564, 107
S.E. 867, 871 (1921) (holding that four-year statute of limitations governed
bank receiver's claims against directors for negligence); O.C.G.A. Secs. 9-3-25
& 26 (four-year statute of limitations for contract claims). Unless RTC can
demonstrate that the statute was tolled, defendants may not be sued for loans
closed more than four years before RTC's (or, as in this case, FSLIC's)
appointment as receiver for Great Southern--that is, before June 21, 1989. In
concrete terms, if no tolling occurred, RTC loses its opportunity to sue on all
but one loan: the Baypoint Retirement Village Loan ("Baypoint Loan"), dated
August 1985.
6
RTC argues that the district court correctly decided that federal common law's
"adverse domination" doctrine operated to toll Georgia's limitations period.
Defendants argue that Georgia law applies, and that Georgia law does not
recognize "adverse domination" in these circumstances.3 We agree with
defendants. To simplify matters, we discuss RTC's state and federal claims
separately.
A. State Law Claims

7
RTC's complaint included state law causes of action for negligence and breach
of contract. The Fifth Circuit's decision in Dawson explains why RTC's state
law causes of action are subject to state tolling rules:
8
[B]ecause
the FDIC is merely acquiring the claims held by the failed bank, the issue
is whether the bank would be time-barred if it tried to sue its directors in state court
on the date of the FDIC's appointment as receiver. Only if the bank's claims are still
viable under state law on that date does the limitations clock start to run anew under
FIRREA's limitations provision. Because this step of the analysis is purely a
question of state law, there is no justification for applying federal equitable tolling
principles to pre-receivership events. If the FDIC is to toll the state statute of
limitations prior to its appointment as receiver under the adverse domination
doctrine, it must show the district court that the state law of adverse domination
would permit tolling.
9
Dawson, 4 F.3d at 1309.
10
We believe the Supreme Court's decision in O'Melveny & Myers v. Federal

Deposit Ins. Corp., --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 2048, 129 L.Ed.2d 67 (1994), is also
instructive: "It is hard to avoid the conclusion that [12 U.S.C.] Sec. 1821(d)(2)
(A)(i) places the FDIC in the shoes of the insolvent S & L, to work out its
claims under state law, except where some provision in the extensive
framework of FIRREA provides otherwise." Id. at ----, 114 S.Ct. at 2054.

11
Georgia law permits no tolling in this case. Mobley v. Faircloth, 174 Ga. 808,
164 S.E. 195 (1932), presented a similar situation. In Mobley, the state
superintendent of banks took possession of an insolvent bank, accusing the
bank's directors of making excessive loans. Because the pertinent loans were
made more than four years before suit was filed, defendants' demurrer was
sustained. Even though defendants "were in control of the bank continuously
from the time of the ... loans until the failure of the bank," no tolling occurred.
Id. (syllabus by the court)4 Given the facts and the outcome of Mobley, the
applicable law of Georgia seems settled: adverse domination does not apply to
this case.
B. Federal Claims
12
RTC argues that its claim for gross negligence was brought under federal law.5
FIRREA's section 1821(k) permits actions for "gross negligence ... [as] defined
and determined under applicable state law." Thus, RTC says this case is
different from cases like Dawson and O'Melveny (in Dawson and O'Melveny,
FDIC relied exclusively on state law causes of action).
13
Even if RTC is correct in arguing that section 1821(k) provides a federal source
for its gross negligence cause of action, we believe the state limitation and
tolling rules must still be consulted before determining whether section 1821(d)
(14)(A)'s limitation applies. RTC cites no explicit adoption of a federal
limitation or tolling rule that governs its gross negligence claim, and we decline
to interpret section 1821(d)(14)(B) to permit the "accrual" of federal causes of
action--such as, one for gross negligence--when a state limitation would have
barred a suit for gross negligence.6 Thus, Georgia law also determines whether
RTC's federal claims are time-barred. See O'Melveny, --- U.S. at ----, 114 S.Ct.
at 2054 ("In answering the central question of displacement of [state] law, we
of course would not contradict an explicit federal statutory provision. Nor
would we adopt a court-made rule to supplement federal statutory regulation
that is comprehensive and detailed; matters left unaddressed in such a scheme
are presumably left subject to the disposition provided by state law."); see also
Seale, 13 F.3d at 852-53 (applying state limitations period to gross negligence
claims); cf. Hawthorne v. Wells, 761 F.2d 1514, 1515 n. 7 (11th Cir.1985) ("
[w]here Congress has provided no limitations period for a federal claim ... a
court must borrow the applicable limitations period and tolling rules from the
state") (citing Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 64
L.Ed.2d 440 (1980)).
14
But RTC argues that, even if Georgia's limitations period applies, its federal
causes of action should be preserved by applying federal tolling principles.7
RTC argues that "federal interests" overrule the state's "strong polic[y] of
repose." See Tomanio, 446 U.S. at 485-88, 100 S.Ct. at 1795-97. But, even if
we accept the notion that "federal interests" have an effect on the choice of
tolling law, we cannot conclude that state tolling principles are necessarily
"inconsistent" with federal policy.
15
RTC advances "uniformity" concerns, arguing that application of state tolling

rules would throw FIRREA's operation into chaos. But, as an assessment of the
nation's policy, this argument seems weak: FIRREA contemplates diverse
results by permitting state statutes of limitations to bar actions instead of
constructing a "uniform" federal regime. Cf. Dawson, 4 F.3d 1303 (two-year
statute of limitations under Texas law) with F.D.I.C. v. Cocke, 7 F.3d 396 (4th
Cir.1993) (one-year statute of limitations under Virginia law); see also
Tomanio, 446 U.S. at 489, 100 S.Ct. at 1797 ("statutory reliance on state law
obviously means that there will not be nation-wide uniformity") (quoting
Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 594 n. 11, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 1997 n. 11, 56
L.Ed.2d 554 (1978)). And, in cases where section 1821(d)(14)(A)'s limitation
applies, Congress permits the application of state statutes of limitations to the
extent they exceed the prescribed federal period. Congress did not put much
stress on uniformity.
16
RTC also speaks generally about "comprehensively regulated federal

programs," arguing that a state tolling law frustrates the banking system. In this
case, however, RTC is not "regulating" a bank, at least not in the ordinary
sense; instead, RTC is a plaintiff, in possession of Great Southern's assets,
pursuing claims on behalf of the institution. "[A] state statute cannot be
considered 'inconsistent' with federal law merely because the statute causes the
plaintiff to lose the litigation. If success were the benchmark, there would be no
reason at all to look to state law, for the appropriate rule would then always be
the one favoring the plaintiff, and its source would be essentially irrelevant."
Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 593, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 1996, 56 L.Ed.2d
554 (1978); see also O'Melveny, --- U.S. at ----, 114 S.Ct. at 2055 ("there is no
federal policy that the fund should always win").
III.
17
Congress was free to establish a uniform limitations period reaching back

several years. It did not. RTC's claims, except for claims arising out of the
Baypoint Loan, were barred under Georgia's statute of limitations and tolling
laws. We REVERSE the district court's denial of partial summary judgment and
REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED and REMANDED. 8
"The doctrine of adverse domination ... tolls the statute of limitations for as
long as a corporate plaintiff continues under the domination of the
wrongdoers." F.D.I.C. v. Dawson, 4 F.3d 1303, 1308 (5th Cir.1993)
The statute provides the following:

(A) In general
Notwithstanding any provision of any contract, the applicable statute of
limitations with regard to any action brought by the Corporation as conservator
or receiver shall be-(i) in the case of any contract claim, the longer of-(I) the 6-year period beginning on the date the claim accrues; or
(II) the period applicable under State law; and
(ii) in the case of any tort claim, the longer of-(I) the 3-year period beginning on the date the claim accrues; or
(II) the period applicable under State law.
(B) Determination of the date on which a claim accrues
For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the date on which the statute of
limitations begins to run on any claim described in such subparagraph shall be
the later of-(i) the date of the appointment of the Corporation as conservator or receiver; or
(ii) the date on which the cause of action accrues.
12 U.S.C. Sec. 1821(d)(14)(A) & (B).
Defendants argue as a backup that, in fact, no adverse domination occurred.

Because we conclude that state tolling principles apply, we say nothing on this
argument
RTC's reliance on Shipman v. Horizon Corp., 245 Ga. 808, 267 S.E.2d 244
(1980), is not persuasive. Shipman deals with tolling in cases of fraud (where
fraud is the cause of action, or where fraud prevents less culpable acts from
being discovered); no fraud is alleged in this case
RTC also argues that its breach of fiduciary duty claims are federal in nature-yet another reason why federal common law governs the tolling of these
claims. RTC cites Briggs v. Spalding, 141 U.S. 132, 11 S.Ct. 924, 35 L.Ed. 662
(1891), which established common law standard of care for directors of
national banks. But we doubt this argument survives the O'Melveny decision.
See O'Melveny, --- U.S. at ----, 114 S.Ct. at 2054 (argument that FIRREA, as a
"nonexclusive grant of rights to the FDIC as receiver" should be supplemented
by federal common law "demolished by those provisions of FIRREA which
specifically create special federal rules of decision regarding claims by, and
defenses against, the FDIC as receiver") (emphasis in original). We need not
decide this point, however, and we assume for the sake of discussion that
RTC's fiduciary duty cause of action is federal in nature
Put differently, FIRREA does not provide a clear enough statement that RTC's
appointment permits the bringing of claims which, under analogous state causes
of action, would have been barred. In Seale, the court refused to apply sections
1821(d)(14)(A) & (B) in such a way as to permit RTC's gross negligence claim
to accrue on the date of its appointment as conservator: "this approach would
permit the RTC to resurrect claims stale from the early twentieth century. The
evidence that Congress intended such a sweeping recovery right is not
persuasive." 13 F.3d at 852-53. Congress recently altered the limitations period
for gross negligence claims. See 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1441a(b)(14) (1993)
(extending statute of limitations for fraud claims for which statute had expired
under section 1821(d)(14)(A)(ii); extending statute of limitations for gross
negligence claims for which statute of limitations had not already expired under
section 1821(d)(14)(A)(ii)). Congress is clearly aware of its ability to revive
stale claims; and, if it wished, Congress could have provided a lengthy
limitations period which explicitly revived stale claims for gross negligence. It
did not do so
RTC also argues that federal concerns require the application of federal tolling
rules to their state causes of action. For the reasons stated infra, we disagree
Defendant David Cobb argues that, because he separated from Great Southern
in March 1985, he should not be held responsible for the Baypoint Loan, closed
in August 1985. On remand, the district court shall make specific factual
findings to determine whether Cobb, in fact, participated in the Baypoint Loan

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28 F.

RESOLUTION TRUST CORPORATION, Plaintiff-Appellee,

United States Court of Appeals,

C.B. Rogers, John J. Almond, Susan D. Burnell, Rogers & Hardin,

FIRREA provides a federal statute of limitations system for claims brought by

The district court correctly decided that Georgia's four-year statute of

A. State Law Claims

Dawson, 4 F.3d at 1309.

We believe the Supreme Court's decision in O'Melveny & Myers v. Federal

framework of FIRREA provides otherwise." Id. at ----, 114 S.Ct. at 2054.

RTC advances "uniformity" concerns, arguing that application of state tolling

RTC also speaks generally about "comprehensively regulated federal

Congress was free to establish a uniform limitations period reaching back

REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The statute provides the following:

Defendants argue as a backup that, in fact, no adverse domination occurred.

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