Harman v. Willbern

227 F. Supp. 892, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7806
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedApril 3, 1964
DocketNo. KC-1963
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 227 F. Supp. 892 (Harman v. Willbern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harman v. Willbern, 227 F. Supp. 892, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7806 (D. Kan. 1964).

Opinion

ARTHUR J. STANLEY, Jr., Chief Judge.

On February 8, 1958, the defendant sold his majority stock interest in the Coffeyville Loan and Investment Company, Inc. (C. L. I. C.) to Donald Elbel or his associated companies. From that date until sometime in August or September, 1958, the defendant continued as director of C. L. I. C.

On the 17th day of July, 1959, the petition of C. L. I. C. for reorganization under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act was approved.

The plaintiff in this action, Hylton Harman, is the duly appointed, qualified and acting trustee in reorganization of the debtor corporation as the successor of Richard L. Becker, resigned.

Trustee Becker, claiming to have valid causes of action against the defendant, requested by an application for instructions that he be authorized and directed to file an action against the defendant. A conference to consider the trustee’s request was held in chambers on June 17, 1961. Present were the trustee and his attorney, Mr. Willbern and his attorneys, the attorney for the creditors committee, and counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Counsel for Will-bern urged that the proposed action already was barred by the statute of limitations. The trustee and other interested parties took the position that it would not be barred until July 17, 1961. The trustee’s application was taken under advisement and briefs were submitted.

In order to toll the statute, if it had not already run, Willbern, the trustee, and their respective attorneys entered into the following stipulation on July 10, 1961:

“(1) If, within sixty (60) days after a final judicial determination has been made as to whether or not said trustee should be directed to file any cause or causes of action against D. A. Willbern, the trustee shall file any such cause or causes of action against D. A. Willbern, any such cause or causes of action shall be deemed to have been filed not later than July 16, 1961, and to such extent said D. A. Willbern hereby waives the benefits and defense of any and all statutes of limitations from July 16, 1961 to the date any causes of action may be filed.
“(2) That except as provided in paragraph (1) above, the said D. A. Willbern does not waive the defense of any statute of limitations.”

The court’s memorandum of decision, attached as an appendix to this opinion, was lodged in the Chapter X proceeding on January 23, 1963. After hearing, the trustee’s application for leave to file the complaint was granted on June 1, 1963. The latter date therefore is the date of the “final determination” as that term is used in the stipulation.

[894]*894The complaint was filed July 1, 1968, and thereafter, on July 31, 1963, the trustee filed an amended complaint.

The amended complaint is stated in two counts or causes of action. The first count charges the defendant with negligence in selling a controlling interest in C. L. I. C. to Elbel without adequate investigation of Elbel’s financial standing, thereby violating his duty to the company’s depositors. The second count charges that the defendant negligently and intentionally violated, and caused the debtor corporation to violate, the banking code of the State of Kansas.

The defendant has filed a motion to dismiss both counts of the first amended complaint. At this point it should be noted that such motions are generally viewed with disfavor, considered drastic remedies, and are granted sparingly. Pond v. General Electric, 256 F.2d 825 (9th Cir. 1958), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 818, 79 S.Ct. 30, 3 L.Ed.2d 60; Acoustica Associates, Inc. v. Powertron Ultrasonics Corp., 28 F.R.D. 16 (E.D.N.Y.1961); 1A Barron and Holtzoff Federal Practice and Procedure, § 348 (Rules ed. 1960).

As to count one, the defendant advances two principal arguments for dismissal :

1. That the statute of limitations had run against any action or purported action as disclosed in the original complaint prior to May 27 or June 17, 1961.

2. That this court has no jurisdiction •over the subject matter in that the Bankruptcy Act cannot confer jurisdiction where there is no diversity of citizenship between the parties.

The defendant contends that the first count, couched in terms of tort negligence, is controlled by the two-year period of limitations set out in Kan.G.S. 1949, 60-306, Third. D. A. Willbern was a named director of the debtor corporation until on or about September 4, 1958. Therefore, the defendant concludes, any action based upon Willbem’s negligence as a director and filed more than two years later is barred by the running of the statute; and the execution of the stipulation tolling all statutes of limitations on July 10, 1961, did not save or revive an already barred cause.

In answer, the plaintiff contends that the state statute of limitations is tolled or extended by Section 11, sub. e of the Bankruptcy Act, as amended in 1938. (11 U.S.C.A. § 29, sub. e). Section 11, sub. e, in pertinent part provides :

“A receiver or trustee may, within two years subsequent to the date of adjudication or within such further period of time as the Federal or State law may permit, institute proceedings in behalf of the estate upon any claim against which the period of limitation fixed by Federal or State law had not expired at the time of filing of the petition in bankruptcy. * * * ”

In the case of Chapter X proceedings, “the date of adjudication” is read as the date of the approval of the petition, here July 17, 1959. Dabney v. Levy, 92 F. Supp. 551 ( S.D.N.Y.1950); aff’d, 191 F. 2d 201 (2d Cir. 1951); cert. denied, 342 U.S. 887, 72 S.Ct. 177, 96 L.Ed. 665.

The cases cited by the defendant, supporting the proposition that the period of limitations set by state statute is determinative, construed the law as it existed prior to the 1938 amendment which made the above quoted provision effective. Nairn v. McCarthy, 120 F.2d 910 (7th Cir. 1941); Mellon v. Weiss, 270 U.S. 565, 46 S.Ct. 378, 70 L.Ed. 736 (1926). It is now well settled that a cause of action which arises under state law, and upon which the state period of limitation has expired after the date of adjudication, but within two years after that date, is extended by the two-year period provided in Section 11, sub. e since that period supersedes the state limitation. 1 Collier on Bankruptcy, ft 11.13 (14th ed. 1962).

The stipulation of July 10, 1961, caused the complaint filed July 1, 1963, to relate back as having been filed prior to July 17, 1961. The defendant’s motion to dismiss the first count, on the ground [895]*895that it is barred by the running of the statute of limitations, is denied.

The defendant contends further as to count one that this court is without jurisdiction in this case because of the lack of requisite diversity of citizenship. In support of this assertion, he cites the cases of Harrison v. Chamberlin, 271 U.S. 191, 46 S.Ct. 467, 70 L.Ed. 897 (1926); Harris v. First National Bank, 216 U.S. 382, 30 S.Ct. 296, 54 L.Ed. 528 (1910); Frank v. Vollkommer, 205 U.S. 521

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In Re Republic Trust & Savings Co.
59 B.R. 606 (N.D. Oklahoma, 1986)
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260 F. Supp. 723 (M.D. Florida, 1966)

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227 F. Supp. 892, 1964 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harman-v-willbern-ksd-1964.