Opus West Granted Permission to File Amended Complaint Alleging Self-Dealing and Adding Mark Rauenhorst, Rauenhorst Trustees and Others as Defendants

DALLAS, June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- United States Bankruptcy Judge Harlin D. Hale granted Opus West permission to file its First Amended Complaint, which adds Mark Rauenhorst, Keith Bednarowski, and Luz Campa as defendants in their individual capacity; adds Adler Management, L.L.C. and Opus Real Estate VII, L.P. as defendants; and alleges claims against Mr. Rauenhorst and Mr. Bednarowski for breaching the fiduciary duties they owed to Opus West as members of Opus West's board of directors, and against the other defendants for conspiring with and aiding and abetting Mr. Rauenhorst and Mr. Bednarowski in their breaches of fiduciary duty.  The lawsuit is styled as Opus West Corporation v. Opus Corporation, et al., Adversary No. 10-03013-HDH, pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.  

In the First Amended Complaint, Opus West alleges that Mr. Rauenhorst (a beneficiary of Defendant Gerald Rauenhorst 1982 Irrevocable Trust f/b/o Children) and Mr. Bednarowski (Trustee of Defendant Gerald Rauenhorst 1982 Irrevocable Trust f/b/o Grandchildren) served as members of Opus West's board of directors, with Mr. Rauenhorst also serving as a member of the two-person executive committee that approved Opus West's major transactions.  Opus West further alleges that Mr. Rauenhorst and Mr. Bednarowski approved numerous transactions that enriched them personally and enriched the Rauenhorst trusts and other defendants at the expense of Opus West, even though Mr. Rauenhorst and Mr. Bednarowski owed a fiduciary duty of loyalty to act in the best interests of Opus West.  

"In this lawsuit, we will seek to show that the Rauenhorst family trusts, their trustees, and Mark Rauenhorst profited at the expense of hundreds of loyal and hard-working employees, creditors, and lenders," says attorney Chris Akin of Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox.  Jeremy Fielding of LTPC commented that "Opus founder Gerald Rauenhorst called his autobiography 'Integrity,' but the allegations in our lawsuit paint a very different picture."  LTPC is lead counsel for Opus West, with Vickie Driver of Coffin & Driver, PLLC serving as co-counsel.  

Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox, L.L.P. is a nationally recognized trial and appellate law firm focusing on complex, "high stakes" litigation when the results truly matter.  Coffin & Driver, PLLC, a Dallas-based firm, provides high quality legal services to a variety of business clients, specializing in bankruptcy, real estate, and commercial litigation matters.

SOURCE Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox, LLP