In Re Apex Oil Co.

111 B.R. 235, 1990 Bankr. LEXIS 394, 20 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 334, 1990 WL 18597
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 5, 1990
Docket12-41058
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 111 B.R. 235 (In Re Apex Oil Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Apex Oil Co., 111 B.R. 235, 1990 Bankr. LEXIS 394, 20 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 334, 1990 WL 18597 (Mo. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BARRY S. SCHERMER, Bankruptcy Judge.

This cause coming to be heard upon the Application of Examiner Lloyd A. Palans for Final Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses for the period January 27, 1988 through November 30, 1989 (the “Examiner Application”), all creditors and parties in interest having received more than twenty days written notice thereof, four objections to certain portions of the Examiner’s Application having been filed, the Court having received into evidence without objection various affidavits, exhibits and designations of prior court filings and having being otherwise fully advised in the premises, the Court hereby makes the following findings of facts and separately states its conclusions of law thereon, pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Bankruptcy Rules and Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. On December 24, 1987, Apex Oil Company, Apex Holding Company, Clark Oil & Refining Corporation and 49 other subsidiaries of Apex Oil Company filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. Section 1101, et seq.

*237 2. On October 11, 1988, Novelly Oil Company and Goldstein Oil Company, the partners of Apex Oil Company, filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and have been procedurally consolidated with the Apex debtors herein. (All debtors are collectively referred to herein as “Debtors” or “Apex.”)

3. On January 27, 1988, upon application of the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee (the “Creditors’ Committee”), this Court entered its Order Appointing Lloyd A. Palans Examiner. Mr. Palans has served these estates in that capacity through the present.

4. The Order appointing the Examiner allowed this Court the flexibility necessary to place the Examiner in a variety of critical situations, thereby enabling the Examiner to make a substantial contribution to the completion of this bankruptcy and facilitation of settlements and issue resolutions.

5. Given that the Examiner’s present duties in this proceeding are ministerial in nature, it is appropriate to review his fees and his overall contribution to this case at this time.

The Examiner’s Application and The Four Objections Thereto

6. The Examiner and his law firm, Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, have provided 9,708.10 hours of service during the period January 27, 1988 through November 30, 1989. Legal fees incurred in the rendition of those services during that period total $1,134,042. The Examiner’s firm has incurred expenses during that period of $138,095.52.

7. Pursuant to prior court orders, the Examiner and his firm have received 85% of their legal fees and 100% of their expenses. $170,106.30 of the total fees (i.e., 15%) have been held back pursuant to those court orders.

8. The Examiner’s Application seeks (a) approval of 100% of the actual fees and expenses incurred, (b) an additional payment of $170,106.30 representing a bonus or upward adjustment of the lodestar in an amount equal to 15% above the actual fees, and (c) interest at an appropriate rate to compensate for loss of use of the money incurred by holdbacks.

9. Apex, P.A. Novelly, Samuel R. Gold-stein and the U.S. Trustee filed objections to those portions of the Examiner’s Application seeking a 15% bonus and interest on the holdback. (Messrs. Novelly and Gold-stein are the principals of the Debtors and most of the non-Debtor affiliates, including non-Debtor Clark Oil Trading Company.)

10. No objections to the Examiner’s request for 100% of his actual fees and expenses were filed, and no such objections were asserted at the hearing.

Position of the Creditors’ Committee

11. The Creditors’ Committee supports all aspects of the Examiner’s Application, including his requests for a bonus and for interest.

Role of Examiner

12. In its Order Appointing the Examiner, this Court authorized the Examiner to take "... any necessary and appropriate actions in furtherance of assisting the Court and parties in bringing these proceedings to a just, prompt and economic disposition.” Critical to the Examiner’s fulfillment of this mission has been his conduct of investigations and mediations which have provided economical alternatives to potentially expensive, protracted and divisive litigation. These investigations substantially benefitted all parties by providing a disinterested participant who could assist in resolving the many conflicting and competing interests in the reorganization process.

13. The Examiner’s contribution to Apex’s reorganization embraced three primary areas: (1) stabilization of the estate, (2) asset disposition and (3) investigation, each of which is separately addressed below.

Stabilization (COTC, Budget, Retention of Professionals, Establishment of Claims Resolution Procedure, etc.)

14. From the outset of these cases, the twelve bank secured lender group that had *238 provided credit to Apex (the “Lender Group”) took a very aggressive stance with respect to the Debtors, a stance which reflected the deteriorating and increasingly bitter pre-petition relationship between these entities. According to Charles A. Hinrichs, Senior Vice President of Boatmen’s Bank, a member of the Lender Group, “Acrimony and distrust were common in the day-to-day relationship between Debtors and the Lender Group.” (Hinrichs Aff. at ¶ 3.)

15. The Lender Group’s aggressive stance was best demonstrated by its attempt to obtain an emergency order substantively consolidating the assets of non-Debtor Clark Oil Trading Company (“COTC”) with Apex. The Lender Group filed its emergency motion for substantive consolidation of COTC (the “Emergency Motion”) simultaneously with the Debtors’ filing 51 voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11. With the case immediately off to such a highly contentious start, this Court focused the Examiner’s immediate efforts on preventing further deterioration of the debtor/creditor relationships between Apex and the Lender Group, restoring use of working capital for Apex’s businesses and, most importantly, preventing costly, uncertain and bitter litigation between Apex, COTC and the Lender Group.

16. The Examiner’s success in achieving these goals was attested to by Mr. Hin-richs:

The appointment of the Examiner and his subsequent efforts in connection with numerous matters between the Lender Group and the Debtors were crucial toward stabilizing the post-petition relationship between the Debtors and the Lender Group.

(Hinrichs Aff. at 11 5.) This testimony is undisputed.

17. Some important goals during the early part of the stabilization process were preserving going concern values, monitoring budget and operating reports, and obtaining commitments for preparation of an asset deployment plan.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 B.R. 235, 1990 Bankr. LEXIS 394, 20 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 334, 1990 WL 18597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-apex-oil-co-moeb-1990.