Feoffees Additional Summary Judgment Filings

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The “Reply” and “Response” documents are probably the most interesting in this set.

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Reply to SC Opposition of Summary Judgment

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Response to Additional Facts

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Opposition to Substitute and Amicus

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Supplemental Record TOC

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Foote Affidavit

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Chalk – Appraisals’ Figures

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Chalk – Discount Rates, etc.

Probate – Feoffees – 110131 – Chalk – Development Approach

 

 

Attorney General’s Summary Judgment Memo

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Here the Attorney General, having remained publicly silent for years, formalizes the abdication of her duty to protect the Trust and its beneficiaries.

Probate – AG – 110128 – Summary Judgment Memo

Selectmen Summary Judgment Opposition

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The most important statement in this document is at the bottom of Page 5: “Based on the information that is currently available to the Selectmen Feoffees, they have serious doubts about whether the sale of the Trust assets is, in fact, the best way to provide a perpetual benefit to the Ipswich Public Schools.”  The beneficiaries would be interested to know if there is any information the Selectmen Feoffees have obtained since this filing that have alleviated those doubts.

Probate – Selectmen – 110128 – Summary Judgment Opposition

Amicus Brief

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This is the Amicus Brief that gained the support of over 700 citizens in the span of about 10 days before the Summary Judgment hearing.  It was later allowed by the court.

Probate – Amicus Group – 110127 – Amicus Brief

Probate – Amicus Group – 110127 – Motion for Leave

School Committee Opposition to Summary Judgment

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This is the School Committee’s strongest written opposition to the sale that they have now accepted.  Their own pro-formas show the financial advantages of no-sale compared to sale, and they were done assuming that the Trust principal would be wasted over time (note the last line of the pro-formas “Value in 2011 dollars”, which decreases over time).  Now that the court has required this value to remain constant, that means there will be even less money available for the schools than these pro-formas show if a sale were to go through.  It is also worth noting that these pro-formas only cover 5 years; see specifically paragraphs 40-42 of the opposition for the School Committee’s own dire projections for a sale past the 5 year mark.  We tend to think that the opinions in paragraph 42 are overly pessimistic, but even with more “realistic” numbers the sale option – even if it were legal – is, put plainly, an awful deal.

Probate – SC – 110126 – Summary Judgment Opposition

Probate – SC – 110126 – Pro-Formas

It is important to note that no public vote of the School Committee was taken between this scathing indictment of a sale and their acceptance of a sale.

Selectmen Motion to Switch Sides

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In this motion, the Selectmen Feoffees ask to be allowed to switch sides and join the School Committee.  This motion is largely denied.

Probate – Selectmen – 110124 – Motion to Substitute Parties

Feoffees Summary Judgment Motion and Memo

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This is the motion and supporting arguments made by the Feoffees essentially asking the court to find that fundamental facts in the case were not in dispute and that the Feoffees should be allowed to either sell or mortgage Little Neck immediately.  The filing of this motion – and the concern that the School Committee might not oppose it – were the impetus for the filing of the Amicus Brief.  This motion was denied.

Probate – Feoffees – 101202 – Summary Judgment Motion

Probate – Feoffees – 101202 – Summary Judgment Memo

Probate – Feoffees – 101202 – Record TOC

Feoffees Pro-Forma Financials

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These are the pro-forma financials filed for the summary judgment hearing purporting to show the future fiscal performance of the trust under various sale and no-sale alternatives.  Note in particular that the sale options do not include any allowance for reinvestment.  This artificially inflates the income and means that the value of the Trust would erode and eventually disappear over time.  Also note that the estimates only go out five years, and the income of the cash trust is based on a large uptake of high interest rate 5 year loans to tenants; after the initial five years, the trust would revert to a more traditional cash endowment and performance would tumble.

Probate – Feoffees – 101202 – ProFormas – Exs 55-58