Alberts v. Gallagher (In re Greater Southeast Community Hospital Corp.)

341 B.R. 91, 64 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 627, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 808
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 21, 2006
DocketBankruptcy No. 02-02250; Adversary No. 04-10116
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 341 B.R. 91 (Alberts v. Gallagher (In re Greater Southeast Community Hospital Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alberts v. Gallagher (In re Greater Southeast Community Hospital Corp.), 341 B.R. 91, 64 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 627, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 808 (D.C. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER RE MOTIONS TO DISMISS

S. MARTIN TEEL, JR., Bankruptcy Judge.

Seeking to avoid and recover various payments the debtors had made, the plaintiff, Sam J. Alberts, Trustee for the DCHC Liquidating Trust, commenced this adversary proceeding against Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (“AJG”).1 He later amended [94]*94the complaint to add various insurance companies as defendants. Three of those added defendants (the “Added Defendants”) seek dismissal based on the statute of limitations found in 11 U.S.C. § 546(a)(1)(A) which the court finds applicable and which bars the amended complaint unless it relates back to the filing of the original complaint.2 The relation-back issue turns on the proper construction of Rule 15(c)(3)(B) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

I

In both the original complaint and the amended complaint, Alberts pursues three counts: preferential transfers recoverable under 11 U.S.C. §§ 547 and 550; fraudulent conveyances recoverable under 11 U.S.C. §§ 544, 548, and 550; and unauthorized postpetition payments (payments that cleared postpetition even if transmitted by prepetition check) recoverable under 11 U.S.C. §§ 549 and 550. The critical element of each count for purposes of addressing the applicability of Rule 15(c)(3)(B) is § 550. If Alberts demonstrates that a transfer of any amount of dollars included in the payments that are the subject of this proceeding is avoidable under § 544, 547, 548, or 549, Alberts cannot make a recovery in that amount from a defendant unless he demonstrates the applicability of 11 U.S.C. § 550(a). In relevant part, § 550(a) provides:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, to the extent that a transfer is avoided under section 544, ... 547, 548, [or] 549 ... of this title, the trustee may recover, for the benefit of the estate, the property transferred or, if the court so orders, the value of such property, from—
(1) the initial transferee of such transfer or the entity for whose benefit such transfer was made; or
(2) any immediate or mediate transferee of such initial transferee.

When Alberts filed his original complaint, he believed that AJG was the “initial transferee” of each transfer. To the extent that AJG was not the “initial transferee” and instead was a mere conduit, Al-berts now asserts that he made a mistake within the meaning of Rule 15(c)(3)(B) in naming AJG as the sole defendant in the original complaint.

The pertinent facts are these. Prior to the commencement of this adversary proceeding, Alberts’ financial advisor, Neil H. Demchick, reviewed and analyzed information provided by the debtors relating to payments made by the debtors during the preference period of 11 U.S.C. § 547(b)(4). In particular, Demchick reviewed the information relating to the transfers that are the subject of this adversary proceeding. From his review of the records furnished, Demchick concluded that AJG was the sole transferee of the transfers. The information did not indicate that AJG was a mere conduit with respect to the transfers or that any of the transfers were intended for any of the Added Defendants or any other company.

On November 16, 2004, Alberts timely filed his original complaint, naming AJG as the sole defendant, which sought to avoid and recover pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 544, 547, 548, 549, and 550, certain payments that the debtors made to [95]*95AJG. On January 28, 2005, AJG filed an answer raising as a defense that it was not the “initial transferee” of the payments as required by 11 U.S.C. § 550(a) for the payments to be recovered from it. A recipient of a payment is not an “initial transferee” of the payment within the meaning of § 550(a)(1) if the recipient was serving as a mere conduit. See Christy v. Alexander & Alexander of New York, Inc. (In re Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey), 130 F.3d 52, 59 (2d Cir.1997) (broker was mere conduit for payments made to insurance companies). To the extent of any dollars transferred as to which AJG was a mere conduit for an Added Defendant (for example, passing along insurance premiums less AJG’s commission as an insurance broker), and thus not the “initial transferee,” Alberts made a mistake in suing AJG instead of the Added Defendant to which AJG passed on those dollars as the true “initial transferee.” However, to the extent that AJG was not a mere conduit as to any particular transfer (for example, to the extent AJG as an insurance broker retained a commission out of insurance premiums) and thus was the “initial transferee” of that transfer, Al-berts made no mistake in suing AJG instead of the Added Defendants.3

On March 10, 2005, Alberts filed a motion to enlarge the time period for service of the summons and complaint under F.R. Civ. P. 4(m). On March 15, 2005, the court entered a bridge order enlarging the time period for serving the summons and complaint under Rule 4(m), and on April 13, 2005, the court entered a further order that extended the time period under Rule 4(m) from 120 days to 210 days with respect to this adversary proceeding, among others.

On March 15, 2005, Alberts filed the amended complaint adding the Additional Defendants. On March 24, 2005, Alberts served a summons and the amended complaint on the Added Defendants.

The amended complaint retains AJG as a defendant and does not substitute the Added Defendants in place of AJG. However, Alberts points to his right to recover from the Added Defendants as the initial transferees to the extent that they (as opposed to AJG) are the initial transferees of the payments.

II

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Bluebook (online)
341 B.R. 91, 64 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 627, 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alberts-v-gallagher-in-re-greater-southeast-community-hospital-corp-dcb-2006.