- 40 -
litigation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
The notice of appeal, which was served on all the partners,
identified the appellants as the five individual named partners
of the partnership and the partnership itself. The four partners
other than ANR did not actively participate in the appeal, but
they also did not actively oppose it, provided that ANR bore the
associated legal expenses. ANR viewed a successful appeal of the
foreclosure order as a way to force DOE back to the negotiating
table. In addition, if the appeal had been successful, it would
have benefited all the partners inasmuch as North Dakota law, if
applicable, would have given the partnership rights to redeem the
plant for 1 year after the foreclosure sale, while possessing and
operating the plant during that 1-year period and retaining the
cashflows generated.
On October 17, 1986, the United States filed its brief in
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, contending that
the District Court properly ruled that North Dakota law should
not apply. In its brief, the Government did not challenge ANR’s
authority or standing to file the appeal. The Government’s brief
asserted, however, that the real motive for ANR’s filing the
appeal was to postpone the foreclosure sale so as to “save the
Great Plains partners as much as $347 million in tax recapture
liability”.
Page: Previous 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011