John K. Mardick v. Elizabeth Stover, Trustee, Etc.

392 F.2d 561
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 21, 1968
Docket21236
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 392 F.2d 561 (John K. Mardick v. Elizabeth Stover, Trustee, Etc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John K. Mardick v. Elizabeth Stover, Trustee, Etc., 392 F.2d 561 (9th Cir. 1968).

Opinion

MERRILL, Circuit Judge:

This appeal is taken from an order of the District Court for the District of Arizona affirming a decision of the Referee in Bankruptcy and from an order of the District Court denying appellants’ motion to amend judgment.

Appellee is the trustee in bankruptcy of Alpha Securities Co., an Arizona corporation formerly doing business as a stockbroker in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Appellants, asserting rights as cash customers under § 60e of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C. § 96(e), 1 seek *563 to reclaim as their property shares of stock which were in the bankrupt’s possession at the time of bankruptcy. The Referee and the District Court both held that appellants were not entitled to relief under § 60e and this appeal was taken.

MOTION TO DISMISS

Appellee claims that the appeal was not timely. The District Court order from which the appeal was taken was entered March 24, 1966. Appellants moved to amend judgment on April 1, 1966, within the ten days allowed by Fed.R.Civ.P. 59, made applicable to bankruptcy proceedings by General Order 36, 11 U.S.C.A. following § 53. The motion was denied by the District Court on April 19, 1966, the court stating that the motion had been “duly considered.” This appeal was taken May 27, 1966.

The appeal thus was taken within the 40 days allowed by § 25 of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C. § 48, if time is to be computed from the order denying amendment of judgment, but not if it is to be computed from the original order. Fed.R.Civ.P. 73 provides:

“The running of the time for appeal is terminated as to all parties by a timely motion made by any party pursuant to any of the rules hereinafter enumerated, and the full time for appeal fixed in this subdivision commences to run and is to be computed from the entry of any of the following orders * * * granting or denying a motion under Rule 59 to alter or amend the judgment * * *.”

This rule applies to bankruptcy proceedings when the motion is entertained by the District Court. Wayne United Gas Co. v. Owens-Illinois Glass Co., 300 U.S. 131, 57 S.Ct. 382, 81 L.Ed. 557 (1937); Carpenter, Babson & Fendler v. Condor Pictures, Inc., 108 F.2d 318 (9th Cir. 1939); Ribaudo v. Citizens Nat’l Bank of Orlando, 261 F.2d 929 (5th Cir. 1958); 2 Collier, Bankruptcy § 25.07 (1966).

That the motion to amend judgment was entertained by the District Court in this case appears from the court’s recital that the motion was duly considered.

The motion to dismiss is denied.

MERITS OF THE APPEAL

Appellee makes the preliminary contention that appellants’ right to reclaim property in the trustee’s hands is barred by their election to proceed as a creditor, manifested by their having originally filed a creditor’s claim.

*564 The claim, however, although made upon a printed creditor’s claim form, clearly shows that appellants were seeking a return of the shares of stock involved. At no time have they asserted rights inconsistent with this position. We find no merit in this contention of the trustee.

The principal issues presented by this appeal relate to appellants’ right to reclaim stock as cash customers of the bankrupt under § 60, sub. e.

On November 14,1961, appellants placed “stop-loss” orders with the bankrupt for the sale of 25 shares of Amerada Petroleum Co. owned by Millicent I. Mar-dick, and 107 shares of Union Oil Co. of California, owned by John K. Mardick, if the market price for these shares should fall to certain levels. The certificates were in appellants’ possession and registered in the respective names of the owners. On November 27 the bankrupt notified appellants that it had sold their shares pursuant to their order and they immediately endorsed the certificates in blank and sent them to the bankrupt. Two days later they learned that the market had not fallen to the levels prescribed by their sell orders and that the sales had been made through mistake., They demanded that the shares be replaced in kind. The bankrupt complied by making a purchase of the same blocks of shares but at a price now increased by $604.44 over the sale price of $9,154.53. The bankrupt made good the difference.

The bankrupt did not own a seat on any exchange and accordingly had to deal through a broker who had one. The replacement shares were obtained from the broker who had made the prior sales. They were sent to the transfer agent who issued certificates in the name of the bankrupt and delivered them. The bankrupt, in turn, sent the certificates, endorsed in blank, back to the transfer agent for issuance of certificates in the name of the Mardicks, but the transfer fees were not paid so the street-name certificates were returned to the bankrupt. They were in its possession in this form at the time of the bankruptcy.

The bankrupt filed its petition in bankruptcy on February 13, 1962. It had been insolvent at all times for more than four months prior to that date, including the time when the events described above took place.

Section 60, sub. e establishes the customers of a bankrupt stockbroker as a single separate class of creditors. It establishes as a separate fund for the benefit of this class all property acquired from or held for customers. The only customers excepted from this class, and whose rights to reclaim property are unaffected, are cash customers who can specifically identify property held by the bankrupt as their own. “Cash customers” are defined in paragraph (1) of the section as “customers entitled to immediate possession of such securities without the payment of any sum to the stockbroker.” The section’s intent is summarized as follows in MacLachlan, Bankruptcy § 280, page 323 (1956):

“Section 60e adopts the theory that all the customers of a broker who permit him to have wide powers over their securities are subjecting themselves to the common risk of his failure. He should not be permitted to favor some over others when he and they contemplate the imminence of his failure.”

Upon the facts of this case appellants would clearly appear to be cash customers under the section. They were “entitled to immediate possession” of their shares without further consideration. The trustee contends, however, that they are not entitled to reclaim under the section since they were not able “to identify specifically their property” for the reason that their shares were in the street name of the bankrupt.

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392 F.2d 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-k-mardick-v-elizabeth-stover-trustee-etc-ca9-1968.