In re Geller

216 F. 558, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1616
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedAugust 25, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 216 F. 558 (In re Geller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Geller, 216 F. 558, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1616 (D.N.J. 1914).

Opinion

HAIGHT, District Judge.

On a petition presented by the trustee in bankruptcy, an order was made by the referee, to whom the above matter had been referred, directing Joseph C. Kadane, a resident of the state of New York, to show cause why he should not be directed to turn over to the trustee certain moneys of the bankrupt, which he had collected. A copy of the 'order to show cause and petition were served upon Kadane in the Southern district of New York. Upon the return of the order to show cause, Kadane appeared specially to challenge the jurisdiction of the court. His objections were overruled by the referee, and an order was made directing him to forthwith pay the money to the trustee, subject to any lien that he might have thereon for services as an attorney; the amount to be determined upon application to the referee.

[1] It is to review this order that the matter is now before the court. As grounds for reversal, it is urged that the referee had not obtained jurisdiction over Kadane, because the order to show cause was not served upon him within the territorial limits of this district, and "that the referee had no authority to make the order, in a summary proceeding, because Kadane was an adverse claimant. The view which I entertain makes it unnecessary to consider the second of these grounds. It has been expressly decided, in the following [559]*559cases, that courts of bankruptcy have no jurisdiction to compel, by summary order, one who resides in another district, and who is served with process outside of the territorial limits of the court making the order, and who has not otherwise become a party to the proceedings, to deliver property in his possession, belonging to the bankrupt, to the trustee in bankruptcy. In re Waukesha Water Co., 116 Fed. 1009 (D. C. E. D. Wis.); In re Alphin & Lake Cotton Co., 131 Fed. 824 (D. C. E. D. Ark.); Staunton v. Wooden, 179 Fed. 61, 102 C. C. A. 355 (C. C. A., 9th Cir.); In re Rathfon Bros., 200 Fed. 108 (D. C. W. D. Mich.); In re Farrell (In re Heintz) 201 Fed. 338, 119 C. C. A. 576 (C. C. A., 6th Cir.). The question presented in each of these cases was identical with that now under consideration. Whatever doubt may have existed as to the inference to be drawn from the decision of the Supreme Court in Babbitt v. Dutcher, 216 U. S. 102, 30 Sup. Ct. 372, 54 L. Ed. 402, 17 Ann. Cas. 969, has been, I think, dispelled by the decision of the same court in Acme Harvester Co. v. Beekman Lumber Co., 222 U. S. 300, at page 311, 32 Sup. Ct. 96, at page 101 (56 L. Ed. 208). In the latter case Mr. Justice Day said:

“In tlie opinion in Babbitt v. Dataller it was pointed out by Mr. Chief Justice Fuller, speaking for the court, that the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy courts, under the act of 1898, was limited to their respective territorial limits, and was in substance the same as that provided by the act of 1867 [Act March 2, 1867, c. 176, 14 Stat. 517J, giving such courts jurisdiction in their respective districts in matters of proceedings in bankruptcy. The necessary deduction from these cases is to deny to the District Courts jurisdiction such as was sought to be asserted in this case by the issuing of an injunction against one not a party to the proceedings, and which undertook to have effect in the distant jurisdiction outside the territorial jurisdiction of the District Court. Under the act of 189S, as expounded, in the two cases in 216 IT. S., supra (referring to Babbitt v. Dutcher, and In re Blkus), the injunction might have been sought in the District Court of the United States, in the District of Missouri, where personal service could have been made upon the Beekman Lumber Company.”

In that case the District Court, where the bankruptcy proceedings were pending, attempted to enjoin the prosecution by the Beekman Lumber Company, a creditor of the bankrupt, of a suit in a state court located outside of the territorial limits of that District Court. The injunction was made ex parte, and the question of service of process outside of the territorial limits of the court was not directly before the court. Mr. Justice Day, however, said (222 U. S. 311, 32 Sup. Ct. 101, 56 L. Ed. 208):

“Such proceedings could only have binding force upon the lumber company if jurisdiction were obtained over it by proceedings in a court having jurisdiction, and upon service of process upon such creditor.”

These remarks, taken in connection with those above quoted, demonstrate conclusively, 1 think, that it was the opinion of the Supreme Court that even had process been, in the first instance, served upon the lumber company outside of the territorial jurisdiction of the court making the order, the order would have been invalid. This necessarily negatives the idea that jurisdiction was obtained in this case by a service of process outside of the territorial limits of this court.

As respects jurisdiction, there is no difference in principle between [560]*560enjoining one from prosecuting a suit which would interfere with the due administration of a bankrupt’s estate, and ordering one to turn over to a trustee, for administration under the Bankruptcy Law, property of a bankrupt which is held -by the former. If a' bankruptcy court of one district cannot, by service of process outside of that district, obtain jurisdiction to enjoin a nonresident of that district from prosecuting a suit, it certainly cannot, by the same means, .obtain jurisdiction to order a nonresident to deliver property. As opposed to this view, I am referred to the following extract from the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit in Thomas v. Woods, 173 Fed. 585, 97 C. C. A. 535, 26 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1180, 19 Ann. Cas. 1080, viz.:

“Upon tlie filing of a petition in bankruptcy, all property held by or for the bankrupt is brought within the custody of the court of bankruptcy, and, upon adjudication, that court is vested with jurisdiction to determine all liens and interests affecting it. This jurisdiction is coextensive with the United States.”

The cases cited in support of this statement are: In re Wood & Henderson, 210 U. S. 246, 28 Sup. Ct. 621, 52 L. Ed. 1046; In re Granite City Bank, 137 Fed. 818, 70 C. C. A. 316; In re Muncie Pulp Co., 151 Fed. 732, 81 C. C. A. 116; Guardian Trust Co. v. Kansas City S. Railway Co., 171 Fed. 43, 96 C. C. A. 285, 28 L. R. A. (N. S.) 620; Dempster v. Waters-Pierce Oil Co. (In re Dempster) 172 Fed. 353, 97 C. C. A. 51. I do not think that these remarks' warrant the construction contended for. The question presented in Thomas v. Woods was not one of jurisdiction over the person; -the contention was that the district court of Kansas had no jurisdiction to make an order respecting property situated in another district. In re Wood & Henderson dealt only with the effect of 60d of the Bankruptcy Act, which provides for a re-examination of fees paid to attorneys in contemplation of bankruptcy proceedings. The scope of the decision is limited to cases coming strictly, within the provisions of that section of the act. Acme Harvester Co. v. Beekman Lumber Co., supra. The question presented for determination in Re Granite City Bank related to the power of the court to make an order regarding the sale, free from liens, of property of the bankrupt located in another district. The report of In re Muncie Pulp Co.

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Bluebook (online)
216 F. 558, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-geller-njd-1914.