Gladstone, Esq. v. Admiral Insurance Company

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 13, 2021
Docket3:20-cv-02076
StatusUnknown

This text of Gladstone, Esq. v. Admiral Insurance Company (Gladstone, Esq. v. Admiral Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gladstone, Esq. v. Admiral Insurance Company, (S.D. Cal. 2021).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 In re WE INSURANCE SERVICES, Case No.: 20-CV-2076 JLS (MDD) INC., 12 ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S Debtor. 13 MOTION TO WITHDRAW THE BANKRUPTCY REFERENCE 14 LESLIE T. GLADSTONE, ESQ., as 15 Chapter 7 Trustee of We Insurance (ECF No. 1) Service, Inc., 16 Plaintiff, 17 v. 18 ADMIRAL INSURANCE COMPANY, 19 Defendant. 20 21 22 Presently before the Court is Defendant Admiral Insurance Company’s 23 (“Defendant”) Motion to Withdraw the Reference (“Mot.,” ECF No. 1). On August 13, 24 2020, Leslie T. Gladstone, the Chapter 7 Trustee (“Plaintiff” or the “Trustee”) of We 25 Insurance Services, Inc. (“Debtor”), filed this adversary proceeding in the U.S. Bankruptcy 26 Court for the Southern District of California against Defendant. See Gladstone v. Admiral 27 Insurance Company, No. 20-90096-LA (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 2020). On October 22, 2020, 28 Defendant filed the present Motion seeking to withdraw the bankruptcy reference and have 1 the adversary proceeding heard in this Court. See generally Mot. Plaintiff filed an 2 Opposition to the Motion (“Opp’n,” ECF No. 4) and Defendant filed a Reply in Support of 3 the Motion (“Reply,” ECF No. 6). The Court took the matter under submission without 4 oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7.1(d)(1). See ECF No. 3. Having carefully 5 reviewed the Parties’ arguments and the law, the Court DENIES the Motion. 6 BACKGROUND 7 Debtor was an insurance agency formed by Bryan Ells (“Mr. Ells”) and Grant 8 Moseley (“Mr. Moseley”) in September 2012. Opp’n at 3. Mr. Ells served as Debtor’s 9 president and sole owner, and Mr. Moseley served as Debtor’s director. See id. Defendant 10 issued a professional liability insurance policy to Messrs. Ells and Moseley, with Debtor 11 as the named insured. See Mot. at 2. The Trustee alleges that Debtor lost its business and 12 depleted its assets due to Messrs. Ells and Moseley’s mismanagement. Opp’n at 3. Debtor 13 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January 2017, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the 14 Southern District of California (the “Bankruptcy Court”) has presided over that action for 15 more than four years. See generally In re We Insurance Services, Inc., No. 17-00099-LA 16 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 2017).1 17 The Trustee commenced an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court against 18 Messrs. Ells and Moseley, asserting claims for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty 19 based on their alleged failure to implement and maintain information and reporting 20 systems. Opp’n at 3; see generally Gladstone v. Ells, No. 19-90011-LA (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 21 2019). Defendant denied coverage under the insurance policy for the Trustee’s claims, and 22 Defendant notified Messrs. Ells and Moseley that it would not provide a defense for them 23 in the adversary proceeding. Opp’n at 4. Thereafter, Mr. Ells entered into a settlement 24 agreement with the Trustee. Id. The Trustee and Mr. Ells agreed to entry of a final, binding 25

26 1 The Court takes judicial notice of documents filed in the underlying bankruptcy case and in the adversary 27 proceeding against Defendant. See Reyn’s Pasta Bella, LLC v. Visa USA, Inc., 442 F.3d 741, 746 n.6 (9th 28 Cir. 2006) (“[A court] may take judicial notice of court filings and other matters of public record.” (citing 1 judgment in favor of the Trustee against Mr. Ells for $985,000. Id. As part of the 2 settlement agreement, the Trustee agreed to collect the judgment solely from Defendant, 3 and Mr. Ells assigned all the rights, claims, and causes of action that he might have against 4 Defendant to the Trustee. Id. at 5. The Bankruptcy Court approved the settlement 5 agreement over Defendant’s objections that the agreement was collusive and invalid. See 6 id. 7 Subsequently, Defendant filed a motion seeking to lift the automatic stay to file a 8 declaratory action against the Trustee. Opp’n at 7; see In re We Insurance Services, No. 9 17-00099-LA7 (ECF No. 279). The Bankruptcy Court denied Defendant’s motion. Opp’n 10 at 7; see In re We Insurance Services, No. 17-00099-LA7 (ECF No. 295). The Trustee, as 11 an assignee of Mr. Ells’s rights, commenced the instant adversary proceeding against 12 Defendant. See Gladstone, No. 20-90096-LA. The Trustee seeks (1) a declaration that 13 Defendant’s insurance policy provides coverage to the claims asserted against Mr. Ells and 14 (2) damages for Defendant allegedly breaching the insurance policy and the implied 15 covenant of good faith and fair dealing. See id. Subsequently, Defendant filed the present 16 Motion to Withdraw the Reference. See generally ECF No. 1. 17 LEGAL STANDARD 18 Federal courts have “original but not exclusive jurisdiction” over civil proceedings 19 arising in or related to bankruptcy cases. 28 U.S.C. § 1334(a); In re McGhan, 288 F.3d 20 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2002). The district court may refer such matters to a bankruptcy judge. 21 28 U.S.C. § 157(a); see also S.D. Cal. B.L.R. 5011–1. A party who believes that a 22 proceeding pending in the bankruptcy court should instead be litigated before the district 23 court may move for withdrawal of that reference pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(d). Section 24 157(d) provides: 25 The district court may withdraw, in whole or in part, any case or proceeding referred under this section, on its own motion, or on 26 timely motion of any party for cause shown. The district court 27 shall, on timely motion of a party, so withdraw a proceeding if the court determines that resolution of the proceeding requires 28 1 creognusliadteirnagt iono rogfa bnoiztaht itoitnles 11o ar nda octtihveirt ileasw sa offf etchtei nUgn itiendt eSrstatatetes 2 commerce. 3 4 28 U.S.C. § 157(d). This statute “contains two distinct provisions: the first sentence allows 5 permissive withdrawal, while the second sentence requires mandatory withdrawal in 6 certain situations.” In re Coe–Truman Techs., Inc., 214 B.R. 183, 185 (N.D. Ill. 1997). 7 Under either provision, the “burden of persuasion is on the party seeking withdrawal.” In 8 re First Alliance Mortg. Co., 282 B.R. 894, 902 (C.D. Cal. 2001); see also Hawaiian 9 Airlines, Inc. v. Mesa Air Group, Inc., 355 B.R. 214, 218 (D. Haw. 2006). 10 With respect to permissive withdrawal, the district court may withdraw a proceeding 11 “for cause shown.” 28 U.S.C. § 157(d). “In determining whether cause exists, a district 12 court should consider the efficient use of judicial resources, delay and costs to the parties, 13 uniformity of bankruptcy administration, the prevention of forum shopping, and other 14 related factors.” Sec. Farms v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen & 15 Helpers, 124 F.3d 999, 1008 (9th Cir. 1997). Additionally, section 157 “classifies matters 16 as either ‘core proceedings,’ in which the bankruptcy court ‘may enter appropriate orders 17 and judgments,’ or ‘non-core proceedings,’ which the bankruptcy court may hear but for 18 which it may only submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the district 19 court for de novo review.” Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 157). “Actions that do not depend on 20 bankruptcy laws for their existence and that could proceed in another court are considered 21 ‘non-core.’” Id.

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Gladstone, Esq. v. Admiral Insurance Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gladstone-esq-v-admiral-insurance-company-casd-2021.