In the Matter of a Mail Dispute Between:

H. JAMES CANTWELL
and
CLARKE B. LLOYD

P.S. Docket No. MD-50

Thompson, Joan B., Administrative Judge

APPEARANCE FOR H. JAMES CANTWELL:
H. James Cantwell, pro se,
20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1631,
Chicago, IL 60606-2903

APPEARANCE FOR CLARKE B. LLOYD:
Howard H. Wemple, Esq.,
1616 E. Roosevelt Road, Suite 8,
Wheaton, IL 60187-6850

INITIAL DECISION

This mail dispute has been transmitted to this office for resolution pursuant to Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) § 153.72 and 39 C.F.R. Part 965. The dispute concerns conflicting change of address cards for mail addressed to the Maple Leaf Agency at 818 Olive Street, Suite 961, St. Louis, MO 63101-1544. The findings are based on the report of the attorney in the Office of Field Legal Services, Central Region (with attachments), and a submittal filed in behalf of Clarke B. Lloyd.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Disputant H. James Cantwell has not filed a submittal within the time prescribed in 39 C.F.R. § 965.5, nor has he responded to disputant Lloyd’s submittal. Copies of the “Notice of Docketing and Submittal Due Date” with the Rules of Practice for mail disputes and of disputant Lloyd’s submittal were served on him by certified mail as shown by the return receipt cards.

2. Disputant Clarke B. Lloyd is the president and sole shareholder of Maple Leaf Agency Associates of Illinois, Inc., which was incorporated in the State of Illinois on February 22, 1983.

3. The Maple Leaf Agency corporation was authorized to do business in the State of Missouri in 1986. Disputant Cantwell notarized the corporation’s application by disputant Lloyd, president of the corporation.

4. Disputant Cantwell, Patrick Cantwell, and Cancorp, Inc. were agents of Maple Leaf Agency but their agency was terminated on October 12, 1988, and the Maple Leaf Agency brought a suit against them and others in the United States District Court in St. Louis, MO.

5. In 1987 Maple Leaf Agency leased an office located at Suite 961, 818 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101-1544, but it no longer occupies that office and the lease has since been terminated.

6. Maple Leaf Agency’s business is now conducted from its office located at 10 North Wacker Drive, Suite 2267, Chicago, IL 60606-2801.

7. Disputant Cantwell in a letter dated January 16, 1989, to the Manager of the Wheeler Station, St. Louis, MO 63101-9998, requested that the disputed mail addressed to 818 Olive Street, Suite 961, St. Louis, MO 63101-1544, be held until the rights of the parties were decided in the pending litigation. No evidence has been submitted in this proceeding of any court order which affects the disposition and delivery of the mail. In the letter and other communications with postal personnel, disputant Cantwell also challenged Mr. Lloyd’s status as president of Maple Leaf Agency, but has shown no evidence to support his position.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Disputant Cantwell is in default in this dispute for failing to file the submittal required by the Rules of Practice. 39 C.F.R. § 965.5 and 965.7.

2. The determination in this proceeding is only for the purpose of discharging the Postal Service’s delivery of mail responsibilities in the absence of an agreement of the parties or a court order. See DMM § 153.71 – 153.73. Such a determination is not dispositive on the question of ownership of the mail.

3. As there is no evidence of a court order affecting the delivery of the disputed mail to Maple Leaf Agency, disputant Cantwell’s prior request to have mail held until the rights of the parties are resolved in the pending litigation is denied.

4. Where there is a dispute among officers, agents, and others concerning the delivery of mail addressed to corporations, mail is to be delivered in accordance with the order of the president of the corporation. DMM § 153.51.

5. The attached mail delivery instruction should be issued directing that the disputed mail be delivered to the Maple Leaf Agency at 10 North Wacker Drive, Suite 2267, Chicago, IL 60606-2801, unless otherwise directed by its president, Clarke B. Lloyd.