Jorgenson v. State Line Hotel, Inc. (In Re State Line Hotel, Inc.)

323 B.R. 703, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 608, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 170, 2005 WL 857471
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 29, 2005
DocketBAP No. NV-04-1151-BSBu, Bankruptcy No. BK-N-02-50085-GWZ
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 323 B.R. 703 (Jorgenson v. State Line Hotel, Inc. (In Re State Line Hotel, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel 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
Jorgenson v. State Line Hotel, Inc. (In Re State Line Hotel, Inc.), 323 B.R. 703, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 608, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 170, 2005 WL 857471 (bap9 2005).

Opinions

OPINION

BRANDT, Bankruptcy Judge.

Appellant Suzanne Jorgenson filed two (almost) identical personal injury claims in the chapter 112 case of State Line Casino (“State Line”), a general partnership.3 She listed an attorney’s name and office address in the space on each proof of claim form calling for the name and address to which notice should be sent, and included her own handwritten address beside her signature on the bottom of the form. Debtor filed an objection to her claims, which it mailed to the attorney’s office. Jorgenson did not respond, and the bankruptcy court sustained the objection, disallowing the claim.

Several months later, after learning that her claims had been disallowed, Jorgenson moved to vacate the order disallowing the claim, arguing that it was void for inadequate service. The bankruptcy court denied the motion and Jorgenson timely appealed.

We AFFIRM.

I. FACTS

Jorgenson alleges that, on 12 December 2001, she was injured on State Line’s premises when an escalator caught her purse and pulled her backwards, causing her to fall and strike her head. This occurred approximately one month before debtor’s chapter 11 petition. No debt to Jorgenson was scheduled.

Some time after the incident, Jorgenson retained attorney Marc McLachlan in connection with her state law claims. She timely filed two almost identical proofs of claim, each on Official Form B10, prescribed by the Judicial Conference of the United States pursuant to Rule 9009, and [706]*706each asserted a general unsecured claim in the amount of $1,000,000. Appearing in the box for “Name & address where notices should be sent” of each form is:

Mark C. McLachlan, Esq.
480 E. 400 S., Suite 200
S.L.C., UT 84111
(801) 521-0123

Jorgenson signed in the signature box at the bottom of each form; handwritten after her signature is “@ 426 N. 150 E., Lindon, Utah 84042.” No documentation was attached in support of either claim, nor is any proof of service of either claim in the record provided to us.4

The parties do not dispute that, other than the proofs of claim, debtor received no other communication from Jorgenson or from counsel; McLachlan never requested to be added to the special notice list pursuant to Rule 2002(i), nor filed a notice of appearance, nor participated in the bankruptcy ease. No personal injury action was filed before the proceedings in question.

In its Fourth Set of Objections to Claims (the “Objection”), debtor objected to both of Jorgenson’s claims and several others. The Objection provided in part:

Claim Nos. 208 and 215 filed by Suzanne Jorgenson (the “Jorgenson Claims”) ... assert identical unsecured nonpriority claims based on personal injury/wrongful death in the amount of $1 Million. Each of the Jorgenson Claims attach insufficient proof of any monies owed by the Debtors as neither attaches any supporting documentation at all. After a thorough review of the Debtors’ books and records, the Debtors have determined that they have no records reflecting any basis for either of the Jorgenson Claims. Accordingly, the Debtors request that the Court disallow Claims Nos. 208 and 215 in their entirety-

The proof of service indicates that debtor mailed the Objection to Jorgenson care of McLachlan’s law office in Salt Lake City.

Jorgenson filed no response to the Objection, and on 29 April 2003, the bankruptcy court entered an order sustaining the Objection, disallowing both claims:

The Debtors’ objections to Claims No. 208 and 215, general unsecured claims in the amount of $1 million each asserted by Suzanne Jorgenson against State Line Casino, are sustained. Claims No. 208 and 215 are hereby disallowed in their entirety.

McLachlan apparently first learned that Jorgenson’s claims had been disallowed on 20 October 2003, on being served notice of debtor’s motion to dismiss the case. An exhibit to the motion valued Jorgenson’s claim at “$0.00.”

Shortly thereafter, Jorgenson (with new counsel) moved to vacate the order disallowing the claims, arguing that the order is void. In McLachlan’s affidavit, the only evidence in support, he stated:

1. I am an attorney for claimant Suzanne F. Jorgenson and represent her with regard to injuries sustained from a fall on an escalator located in the State-line Hotel on or about December 12, 2001. I am an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Utah.
2. In connection with this claim, I caused to be filed a Proof of Claim, which was received and filed in this honorable court on April 11, 2002.
3. In December 2003,1 learned that on February 24, 2003, the debtor, Stateline Casino, formally objected to Mrs. Jor-genson’s Proof of Claim. The certificate of service shows that a copy of this [707]*707Objection was supposedly mailed to me at my business address, printed above. I have since had the opportunity to review this pleading and herein state that prior to December 2003, I have never received a copy of this Objection. I have reviewed my files and have likewise been unable to locate the copy that was purportedly sent to my attention.
4. Further I never received a copy of any Order that was apparently entered by the Court on April 29, 2003, sustaining the Debtor’s subject objection. I have not located a copy of this Order after having conducted a diligent search of my files.
5. Having litigated personal injury matters in the State of Utah for 30 years, I value this claim as being worth in the range of $500,000 to $1,000,000.

Debtor responded, arguing that Jorgen-son had appointed McLachlan as her counsel of record, and that McLaehlan’s bare affidavit is insufficient to rebut the mailbox presumption because the Objection had never been returned as undeliverable. Debtor did not contend that it had served Jorgenson herself at any address. Debtor also argued that relief should be denied for equitable reasons, as the estate had later entered into a settlement agreement with creditors and would be irreparably prejudiced by Jorgenson’s delay. Finally, it argued that Jorgenson’s claim was not meritorious and lacked supporting documentation.

After hearing, the bankruptcy court denied the motion, finding:

Even if I had to reach the agency theory, which I don’t think I do, the proof of claim indicates who Ms. Jorgenson wanted served;
And it has the lawyer’s name, it . has her name care of the lawyer’s address. That’s it[.]
This is an objection to a claim;
And I do find that it is analogous to a civil action or an adversary proceeding;
The proof of claim sometimes can substitute as a complaint;
And we do that sometimes pursuant to local rule or even Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 3007, where the parties don’t want to go through the expense ... of an adversary about the claim. They allow the claim to stand as here it is.

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Bluebook (online)
323 B.R. 703, 2005 Bankr. LEXIS 608, 44 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 170, 2005 WL 857471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jorgenson-v-state-line-hotel-inc-in-re-state-line-hotel-inc-bap9-2005.