A federal bankruptcy judge admonished and sanctioned an attorney on Friday for violating the court’s protective order on confidential information in Express Grain Terminals’ bankruptcy case.
Judge Selene Maddox said in a telephonic hearing she was “concerned” and “very disappointed” in the conduct of Lexington attorney Don Barrett.
Barrett, who represents three farming operations in a class-action lawsuit against Express Grain’s largest creditor, UMB Bank, appeared on "The Gallo Show" on March 17 and discussed both the company’s bankruptcy and the lawsuit. The suit alleges the bank conspired to keep Express Grain temporarily afloat in order to seize as collateral the grain that would be delivered by farmers to the company during the fall harvest last year.
The bank, which has denied the accusation, argued in a motion filed Tuesday that Barrett’s comments on the radio program violated the court’s protective order, which seeks to limit and protect sensitive and confidential information regarding Express Grain’s bankruptcy and grain determination procedures.
In a response, Barrett said that his comments did not constitute a violation of the order and that he would never intentionally violate it.
After considering both sides, Maddox determined in a bench ruling that Barrett’s defense was unsatisfactory.
She said that while Barrett’s comments on the radio show came “dangerously close” to violating the order, she also took issue with Barrett’s admission that his law firm has used access to the Express Grain database to inform the farmers’ ongoing lawsuit.
Maddox said the matters of the lawsuit are unrelated to the purpose of the database.
Additionally, she said no attorney in Barrett’s firm should have access to the database in the first place, as none of them represents a party who has been granted access.
She explained that the court has broad discretion with issuing protective orders and that the order in Express Grain’s case is to limit both disclosure and access. Parties with access, she said, should treat documents produced as confidential and sensitive.
“This is the very type of conduct, perhaps not intentional, that the court intended to prevent by the entry of its protective order,” she said.
She admonished Barrett for his discussion on the radio program. He referred to documents but did not identify their origin.
He told the host, referencing the documents, that “they (the bank) were talking about what terrible financial shape of Express Grain and they mentioned, ‘The bins are empty now, but we know in September they will be full.’ Now why would they mention that if that wasn’t part of their program, part of their plan to seize the grain that belonged to somebody else?”
Barrett also said on the show that he thinks it will turn out to be a “Bernie Madoff-type” scam.
For violating the protective order, Barrett must pay the costs UMB incurred in bringing the motion before the court. The costs must be reasonable, and Barrett has the right to object if he believes they aren’t.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwa-rds@gwcommonwealth.com.
