Church Joint Venture, L.P. v. Bedwell (In re Blasingame)

598 B.R. 864
CourtBankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 15, 2019
DocketNos. 18-8010/8013/8018
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 598 B.R. 864 (Church Joint Venture, L.P. v. Bedwell (In re Blasingame)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Church Joint Venture, L.P. v. Bedwell (In re Blasingame), 598 B.R. 864 (bap6 2019).

Opinion

DANIEL S. OPPERMAN, Chief Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge.

*867Church Joint Venture ("CJV") appeals the bankruptcy court's decision determining that a lawsuit had inconsequential value to the bankruptcy estate and allowing the Trustee, Edward Montedonico, ("the Trustee") to abandon the lawsuit. The Blasingames1 filed a cross appeal of a prior order denying dismissal of the lawsuit, which was interlocutory until the conclusion of the case. For the reasons stated below, the bankruptcy court's decisions are AFFIRMED .

STATEMENT OF ISSUES ON APPEAL

While the parties have listed multiple issues in their appellate briefs, the Panel finds that the following issues have been preserved and are to be decided in these cross-appeals:

1. Whether the bankruptcy court erred in granting the Trustee's motion to abandon a declaratory judgment claim in an adversary proceeding concerning whether certain personal property constituted property of the Debtors' bankruptcy estate.
2. Whether the bankruptcy court erred by admitting the Trustee's exhibits into evidence at the hearing on the motion to abandon when the Trustee moved to admit those exhibits to help establish the factual basis upon which he exercised his business judgment in deciding to seek abandonment.
3. Whether the bankruptcy court erred when denying the Blasingames' motions in the adversary proceeding to dismiss the declaratory judgment claim based on a purported failure to state a claim and the statute of limitations.

JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has authorized appeals to the Panel, and no party has timely filed to have this appeal heard by the district court. 28 U.S.C. §§ 158(b)(6), (c)(1). A final order of the bankruptcy court may be appealed as of right. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1) ; Midland Asphalt Corp. v. U.S. , 489 U.S. 794, 798, 109 S.Ct. 1494, 1497, 103 L.Ed.2d 879 (1989) (quotation marks and citation omitted). The Sixth Circuit recently prescribed a two-step approach to determining whether an order of a bankruptcy court is immediately appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1) : "a bankruptcy court's order may be immediately appealed if it is (1) 'entered in [a] ... proceeding' and (2) 'final'- terminating that proceeding."

*868Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC (In re Jackson Masonry, LLC ), 906 F.3d 494, 497-98 (6th Cir. 2018).

The orders before the Panel include an order granting the Trustee's motion to abandon the litigation and an order dismissing the adversary proceeding. Both orders were entered in a proceeding. Further, these orders fully dispose of the adversary proceeding. Geberegeorgis v. Gammarino (In re Geberegeorgis ), 310 B.R. 61, 63 (6th Cir. BAP 2004) ("[A]n order that concludes a particular adversarial matter within the larger case should be deemed final and reviewable in a bankruptcy setting.") (citations omitted) ). "An order to abandon property of the estate is a final order for purposes of appeal." In re DeGroot , 484 B.R. 311, 313 (6th Cir. BAP 2012).

An "order of abandonment will be reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard." Stark v. Moran (In re Moran ), 385 B.R. 799 (6th Cir. BAP 2008) (citing Viet Vu v. Kendall (In re Viet Vu ), 245 B.R. 644, 647 (9th Cir. BAP 2000) ). "An abuse of discretion occurs only when the [trial] court relies upon clearly erroneous findings of fact or when it improperly applies the law or uses an erroneous legal standard." Id. (quoting Volvo Commercial Fin. LLC the Ams. v. Gasel Transp. Lines, Inc. (In re Gasel Transp. Lines, Inc. ), 326 B.R. 683, 685 (6th Cir. BAP 2005) (citation omitted) ). The bankruptcy court's decision to admit evidence is also reviewed for an abuse of discretion. See In re Felix , 582 B.R. 915, 918-19 (6th Cir. BAP 2018) ; Lebovitz v. Hagemeyer (In re Lebovitz ), 360 B.R. 612, 615-16 (6th Cir. BAP 2007).

The Blasingames filed a cross-appeal of the bankruptcy court's December 7, 2015 order denying their motion to dismiss the adversary proceeding. The order denying the Blasingames' motion to dismiss was not a final order for purposes of appeal when it was entered because it did not end the litigation.

Nonfinal orders merge with the final judgment in a case and may be appealed by filing a timely notice of appeal of the final judgment. Cattin v. Gen. Motors Corp. , 955 F.2d 416, 428 (6th Cir. 1992) ("[I]t is well settled in this circuit that an appeal from a final judgment draws into question all prior non-final rulings and orders.").

GMAC v. Flynn (In re Midway Motor Sales, Inc. ), Nos. 08-8109, 08-8010, 2009 WL 1940719 (6th Cir. BAP July 6, 2009). After the order granting summary judgment was timely appealed, the interlocutory order denying the prior motion to dismiss became subject to this Panel's review.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
598 B.R. 864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/church-joint-venture-lp-v-bedwell-in-re-blasingame-bap6-2019.