Debbie Wallace v. JP Morgan Chase Bank
(November 2013)
Devin Fadaol won a victory for JP Morgan Chase Bank in this wrongful arrest lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed that JP Morgan Chase Bank was negligent in calling the police after a co-defendant informed JP Morgan Chase Bank that the check being presented by plaintiff to open a business account was invalid. Judge Wilson Fields in Baton Rouge denied the Motion for Summary Judgment, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Fields and granted the writ application, dismissing plaintiff’s case against JP Morgan Chase Bank. The First Circuit held that the plaintiff failed to produce factual support sufficient to establish that they will be able to satisfy their evidentiary burden of proof at trial, and that the bank official’s communications to the police were protected by a conditional privilege or qualified immunity.