- 11 U.S.C.
Lankheet v. Porter (In re Bonzelaar)
Sep
01
2006
Ruling
Property conveyed to debtor without her consent and listed in schedules solely upon advice of counsel was property of the estate.
Procedural posture
Appellant seller sought review of a decision of a bankruptcy court, which found that certain real property was part of debtor's bankruptcy estate in the seller's case against appellee trustee.
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- 11 U.S.C.
Collins & Aikman Corp. v. Northern Trust Bank of Cal. (In re Collins & Aikman Corp.)
Aug
09
2006
Ruling
Debtors were entitled to turnover of "rabbi trust" assets.
Procedural posture
Plaintiffs, corporate debtors, filed a complaint against defendant, the trustee of a grantor trust or "rabbi trust" that the debtors, as employers, established to create a source of funding for otherwise unfunded benefit plans. The complaint sought the turnover of all assets of the trust. The trust beneficiaries moved to intervene claiming they were entitled to the assets of the trust. The debtors moved for summary judgment.
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- 11 U.S.C.
Wheeler v. Florida Dept of Correction
Aug
09
2006
Ruling
Trustee allowed to amend schedules to include debtor's civil rights retaliation action.
Procedural posture
Plaintiff employee brought a retaliation claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e, et seq., against defendant state employer. The employer filed a motion for summary judgment based upon judicial estoppel and also claimed that the employee lacked standing to pursue the claim.
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- 11 U.S.C.
In re Phenylpropanolamine Prods. Liab. Litig.
Jul
28
2006
Ruling
Products liability claim against drug manufacturer that was not scheduled by debtor was still property of the estate and could not be pursued by debtor personally.
Procedural posture
Plaintiff consumer had filed suit against defendant manufacturer, and the suit was transferred to a multidistrict proceeding before the court. The consumer alleged that he suffered injury following ingestion of a phenylpropanolamine-containing medication made by the manufacturer. Before the court was the manufacturer's motion for summary judgment, which was premised on a separate bankruptcy proceeding filed by the consumer.
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- 11 U.S.C.
OHare Midway Limousine Serv. V. Conroy (In re Conroy)
Apr
17
2006
Ruling
Debtor lacked standing to assert counterclaim since debtor's breach of contract claim accrued prefilng and, thus, was estate property.
Procedural posture
Plaintiffs, creditors and defendant debtor's former employers, objected to the debtor's discharge under 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(3) and alleged that the debt was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) and (6). The debtor filed a counterclaim for an alleged breach of an agreement. The creditors moved to dismiss the counterclaim and to strike a portion of the counterclaim which was construed as a motion to strike a paragraph in the answer.
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- 11 U.S.C.
Goodman v. Parker (In re Parker)
Mar
07
2006
Ruling
Attorney was granted a permanent injunction to stop the debtor from continuing an action against the attorney since the cause of action was estate property and had been sold to the attorney's insurer.
Procedural posture
Plaintiff attorney filed an action against defendant debtor seeking a permanent injunction against the debtor to stop the debtor from continuing to prosecute a state court legal malpractice action asserted against the attorney. In earlier proceedings, the court had issued a preliminary injunction to enjoin prosecution of the state court proceedings.
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- 11 U.S.C.
First Ave. West Bldg. LLC v. James (In re Onecast Media)
Feb
23
2006
Ruling
Security deposit was estate property since the trustee's rejection of the lease constituted a breach, not a recission, of the contract and enabled the trustee to then pursue a breach-of-contract action to recover the balance of the security deposit.
Procedural posture
Appellee, a chapter 7 trustee, sought reconsideration of a bankruptcy court order denying the trustee's claim to recover proceeds obtained by appellant creditor under a letter of credit. The bankruptcy court denied the trustee's motion. The District Court for the Western District of Washington reversed a bankruptcy court's order. The creditor appealed.
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- 11 U.S.C.
Burgess v. Sikes (In re Burgess)
Jan
27
2006
Ruling
Crop-disaster relief payments were not estate property since the legislation providing for the payments was enacted after the filing.
Procedural posture
Appellant bankruptcy estate challenged the decision of the district court. A panel of the court of appeals reversed the prior decision of denying a motion for turnover.
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- 11 U.S.C.
Law v. Stover (In re Law)
Jan
26
2006
Ruling
Debtors were denied exemption of their federal child tax credit refunds since the refunds were contingent interests in future payments and thus were estate property.
Procedural posture
Appellant debtors challenged orders of the bankruptcy court entered on June 27, 2005, and June 29, 2005, in each of these cases sustaining the objection of appellee, the chapter 7 trustee, to debtors'claim of exemption in the portions of their federal tax refunds attributable to the federal child tax credit.
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- 11 U.S.C.
In re Lott
Oct
14
2005
Ruling
Debtor's interest in the proceeds of a wrongful death action of her mother's estate was property of the estate since it was at least a prepetition contingent right to the proceeds.
Procedural posture
The bankruptcy court granted the chapter 7 trustee's motion to reopen the debtors' case. The issue was whether the wife debtor's interest in the proceeds of an action for the wrongful death of her mother were property of the estate. The trustee claimed that the debtor's interest in the wrongful death action proceeds was property of the estate because that interest, and the cause of action, arose on the prepetition date of death.
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