On August 4, 2017, Judge Steven E. Martin of the Ohio Court of Common Pleas rendered a full verdict in favor of Defendant-Trustee The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM“) in Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, et al. v. The Bank of New York Mellon following a three-week bench trial.

Judge Martin held that plaintiffs failed to prove that BNYM’s conduct caused losses on the RMBS at issue, instead finding that any losses on the RMBS were caused by the fallout of the financial crisis itself, or by “potentially other entities” besides BNYM.  The court also determined that plaintiffs’ methodology for establishing its alleged damages—by sampling a fraction of the loans at issue and extrapolating conclusions therefrom—was inappropriate given the applicable contracts.  Echoing recent decisions in New York State and Federal Courts, Judge Martin found that “countless” provisions in the pooling and servicing agreements require plaintiffs to prove their claims loan-by-loan, rather than through sampling. Read the opinion letter here.