Bakst v. United States (In re Kane & Kane)

475 B.R. 251
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida.
DecidedJuly 5, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 09-15556-EPK; Adversary No. 10-01022-EPK
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 475 B.R. 251 (Bakst v. United States (In re Kane & Kane)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bakst v. United States (In re Kane & Kane), 475 B.R. 251 (Fla. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER DISMISSING INTERVENORS CHARLES J. KANE AND HARLEY N. KANE FROM ADVERSARY PROCEEDING

ERIK P. KIMBALL, Bankruptcy Judge.

THIS MATTER came before the Court for hearing on June 14, 2012 upon the Court’s Order to Show Cause Why Inter-venors Charles J. Kane and Harley N. Kane Should Not Be Dismissed from this Adversary Proceeding and Setting Hearing Thereon [ECF No. 281] (the “Order to Show Cause”).

This adversary proceeding is brought by Michael R. Bakst as chapter 7 trustee (the “Plaintiff’) for Kane & Kane, a Partnership (the “Debtor”) against the United States of America (the “Defendant”) to recover funds transferred by the Debtor to the Defendant in payment of taxes owing by Charles J. Kane (“Charles Kane”) and Harley N. Kane (“Harley Kane” and, with Charles Kane, the “Kanes”). The Court previously allowed the Kanes, former general partners of the Debtor, to intervene in this adversary proceeding on the ground that the Kanes argued the funds transferred to the Defendant were their property rather than property of the Debtor. In another adversary proceeding in which the Kanes were defendants, the Court recently determined that the funds in question were in fact property of the Debtor and not property of the Kanes individually, thus negating the sole reason for the Court’s prior order allowing the Kanes to intervene in this action. The Kanes oppose their dismissal from this case on the ground that, in spite of the Court’s ruling in that other adversary proceeding, they allege the right to intervene here. The Defendant opposes dismissal of the Kanes from this adversary proceeding arguing that the Kanes are indispensable parties. The Plaintiff supports dismissal of the Kanes from this action arguing that they are neither indispensable parties nor entitled to intervene.

The Court considered the Response of Intervenors, Charles J. Kane and Harley N. Kane, to May 16, 2012 Order to Show Cause [ECF 294] (the “Kane Response”), the Government’s Response to Order to Show Cause Why Intervenors Should Not Be Dismissed from This Adversary Proceeding [ECF No. 293] (the “Defendant’s Response”), the arguments advanced by the Kanes, the Defendant and the Plaintiff at the June 14, 2012 hearing, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons stated below, the Court dismisses the Kanes as intervenors from the above-captioned adversary proceeding.

I. BACKGROUND

Due to the tangled nature of this matter, which involves several long-running and interrelated cases, a bit of history is warranted.

The Debtor was a law firm formed as a Florida general partnership. The Kanes, [256]*256both members of the Florida Bar, were the only partners in the Debtor.

In 2004, Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bian-chi, P.A., William C. Hearon, P.A., and Todd S. Stewart, P.A. (“Stewart et al.”) filed suit against the Debtor and the Kanes in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida (the “State Court”). On April 24, 2008, the State Court entered its Final Judgment in favor of Stewart et al. and against the Debtor, Charles Kane and Harley Kane, jointly and severally, in the amount of $2,000,000.00 plus pre and post-judgment interest (the “Stewart Debt”).

On November 17, 2008, the Debtor, Charles Kane and Harley Kane each filed with this Court voluntary petitions for relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. The Court subsequently dismissed these three chapter 11 cases effective on March 30, 2009 after the Court found that they had been filed in bad faith.

On March 30, 2009, the Debtor initiated the above-captioned main case by filing a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Also on March 30, 2009, Charles Kane and Harley Kane each filed voluntary chapter 7 petitions.

On July 31, 2009, Stewart et al. filed adversary complaints against the Kanes (the “Stewart Adversary Proceedings”). Stewart et al. sought: (a) to deny the Kanes their discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 727(a)(2), (5), and (7); and (b) a determination that the Stewart Debt was excepted from each Kane’s discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(4) and (6). The Stewart Adversary Proceedings were consolidated for trial. [ECF No. 17, Case No. 09-01838-EPK; ECF No. 16, Case No. 09-01839-EPK],

On January 7, 2010, the Plaintiff initiated the above-captioned adversary proceeding by filing his Complaint to Avoid and to Recover Fraudulent Transfers and for Other Relief [ECF No. 1] (the “Complaint”). The Plaintiff alleges that the Debtor made the following transfers (the “Transfers”) to the Defendant: (a) $310,000.00 on April 14, 2008 in payment for Charles Kane’s personal federal income tax liability; (b) $290,000.00 on April 14, 2008 in payment for Harley Kane’s personal federal income tax liability; (c) $7,706.00 on August 28, 2009 in payment for Charles Kane’s personal federal income tax liability; (d) $60,000.00 on September 15, 2008 in payment for Charles Kane’s personal federal income tax liability; (e) $60,000.00 on September 15, 2008 in payment for Harley Kane’s personal federal income tax liability; and (f) $165.90 on October 7, 2008 in payment for Charles Kane’s personal federal income tax liability.

The Plaintiff seeks to avoid the Transfers pursuant to several statutes and to recover from the Defendant the money transferred pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 550. In Count I of the Complaint, the Plaintiff seeks to avoid the Transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(A), 11 U.S.C. § 544(b)(1), Fla. Stat. § 726.108(1)(a), and Fla. Stat. § 726.105(l)(a), alleging that the Debtor made the Transfers with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud its present or future creditors. In Count II of the Complaint, the Plaintiff seeks to avoid the Transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(B), alleging that the transfers were constructively fraudulent because the Debtor did not receive reasonably equivalent value for the Transfers and the Debt- or: (a) was insolvent on the dates of the Transfers or became insolvent as a result thereof; (b) was unreasonably under-capitalized; (c) intended to incur or believed it would incur debts beyond its ability to pay as such debts matured; and (d) made the [257]*257Transfers outside of the Debtor’s ordinary course of business for the benefit of insiders, i.e., the Kanes. In Count III of the Complaint, the Plaintiff seeks to avoid the Transfers pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 544(b)(1), Fla. Stat. 726.108(1)(a), Fla. Stat.

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475 B.R. 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bakst-v-united-states-in-re-kane-kane-flsb-2012.