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profiles in partnership
An Aggressive
and
Passionate Defense
SunTrust Banks, Inc. and Powell Goldstein LLP
By Scott M. Gawlicki
Sometimes you just have to dig your
heels in and fight.
Such was the case in 2005 when two heirs
of a prominent Atlanta family sued SunTrust
Banks, Inc. for a staggering $165 million,
claiming the bank lost them millions of
dollars by mismanaging trust funds established
by their late grandfather.
The lawsuit generated plenty of headlines
and brought the bank more than its share of
negative publicity. But SunTrust was not
about to be intimidated.
“We believed the plaintiffs made a variety
of reckless allegations—unsupported by
facts—that attacked our integrity,” says
SunTrust Executive Vice President and
General Counsel Raymond D. Fortin. “We
made a fundamental decision to defend
ourselves because we knew we didn’t do
anything wrong.”
Faced with what looked to be a long,
drawn-out battle, SunTrust turned to Powell
Goldstein LLP partners and litigators L. Lin
Wood and Nicole J. Wade. Wood, who would
serve as lead counsel and trial lawyer, had
a lot of experience with high-profile cases,
including representation of Richard Jewell
in connection with the 1996 bombing of
Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.
“SunTrust was the victim of false accusations
that went to the core of its reputation
and integrity,” Wood says. “The bank
wanted an aggressive and passionate
defense. My reputation is that I play by
the rules but that I’m aggressive and
passionate in defending my clients. So it
was a very good fit.”
Opening Salvos
The lawsuit was brought by Thomas Shaw
and his half brother, Alexander Hitz, after
SunTrust filed to resign as their trustee. The
plaintiffs accused SunTrust of breaching its
“We made a fundamental
decision to defend
ourselves because we
knew we didn’t do
anything wrong.”
fiduciary duty in managing trusts
established by their late grandfather and
Atlanta physician, H. Cliff Sauls. Key to
their argument was the bank’s longstanding
relationship with The Coca-Cola Co., and
its substantial holdings of Coca-Cola stock.
Raymond D. Fortin, SunTrust Banks, Inc.
Shaw and Hitz claimed SunTrust refused
to act on numerous requests to diversify
their stock portfolios—which were heavily
invested in Coca-Cola stock—because it
would negatively affect its own holdings.
That refusal, they argued, resulted in the
value of their trusts declining by more than
50 percent after Coke stock hit a peak of
nearly $89 in 1998 and then dropped to
roughly $44 at the time of the lawsuit.
SunTrust, on the other hand, argued it
had made every effort to comply. In 2000,
it subdivided the original trust into
multiple trusts representing Shaw and Hitz
and two other beneficiaries, an aunt and
Emory University. That increased each half
brother’s annual distribution from about
$75,000 to more than $230,000. But when
the wrangling continued, the bank opted
to resign as trustee.
Photography by Stanley Leary
L. Lin Wood, Powell Goldstein LLP
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