LAWSUIT: YOU DON'T CARE ANYMORELAWSUIT: YOU DON'T CARE ANYMORE

Rorie M. Sherman Editor in Chief

A new lawsuit against Bank of America should give trustees at all major institutions pause. The lead plaintiff, Ellen Jane Kutten, has many complaints — but the driving force behind her suit seems to be displeasure that her family's local bank, Boatmen's Trust Co. of St. Louis, was swallowed by the mammoth Bank of America.

Sure, some of the charges relate to the now-familiar allegations that major banks, including Bank of America, allowed improper trades in mutual funds. But Kutten, whose grandfather Charles H. Yalem founded Aetna Finance Co., is also suing because, she says, she stopped receiving personal service and instead was fobbed off to a call center in far-off Dallas after Bank of America's predeces...