Chase v. First Federal Bank of Kansas City, No. 17-00094 (Western District of Missouri)

"A district court has broad inherent authority to permit or deny an appearance as amicuscuriae." United Fire & Casualty Co. v. Titan Contractors Services, Inc., No. 4:10-cv-2076-CAS, 2012 WL 3065517, *6 (E.D. Mo. July 27, 2012). "The function of an amicus curiae is tocall the court's attention to law, facts, or circumstances in a matter then before it that mayotherwise escape its consideration." Pettet v. May, No. 2:11-cv-04049-NKL, 2011 WL 3354089,*4 (W.D. Mo. Aug. 3, 2011).

The Court would benefit from the viewpoint and argument of ABA and MBA becausethe issues raised in this lawsuit are paramount to the operations of mutual banks. Because a mutual banking institution does not have access to investor capital, the mutual banks’ retainedearnings provide the primary means to grow and thrive and to survive economic hard times.Capital is critical to a banking institution’s safety and soundness and is the first measure ofsoundness that state and federal bank examiners evaluate in their regular examinations. Theplaintiffs in this case present a grave threat to mutual banks and to the communities that dependon these institutions.

Permitting the ABA and MBA to participate in this case is appropriate because theinterests of non-party mutuals, as well as the communities they serve, would otherwise not berepresented, and the interests of said financial institutions and communities will be negativelyimpacted if Plaintiffs succeed on their claims.

The ABA and MBA seek to file this brief in support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.By an order dated March 3, 2017, Defendants' responsive pleading deadline is May 1, 2017. TheABA and MBA are submitting this Motion, with the attached brief amicus curiae, on the date ofDefendants' filing of their Motion to Dismiss, allowing Plaintiffs adequate time to respond.

For the foregoing reasons, the ABA and MBA respectfully request that this Court grant itleave to file the attached brief amicus curiae in support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.