Kevin Huennekens v. Karl Malloy

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 25-1695

KEVIN R. HUENNEKENS, Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

KARL LINARD MALLOY, Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. M. Hannah Lauck, Chief District Judge. (3:24-cv-00779-MHL)

Submitted: December 23, 2025 Decided: December 30, 2025

Before WILKINSON and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Karl Linard Malloy, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

2

PER CURIAM:

Karl Linard Malloy appeals the district court’s order dismissing the bankruptcy judge as an appellee and dismissing Malloy’s appeals from the bankruptcy court’s orders quashing subpoenas and imposing sanctions. The district court dismissed the appeals because, upon dismissal of the bankruptcy judge, there remained no other appellee.

Rule 8003(a) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure requires that a notice of appeal from a bankruptcy court order substantially comply with official Form 417A, and Form 417A includes a section for listing the appellees. However, a failure of complete compliance with this rule is not jurisdictional. See Fadayiro v. Ameriquest Mortg. Co., 371 F.3d 920, 922-23 (7th Cir. 2004); Smith v. Porter, 416 B.R. 264, 268 (E.D. Va. 2009) (holding that failure to identify parties in notice of appeal did not justify dismissal where there was no confusion as to the parties to the appeal or the order from which the appeal was taken). Because Malloy’s notice of appeal substantially complied with Form 417A and his notice of appeal clearly stated that he intended to appeal from four orders quashing subpoenas and imposing sanctions, we conclude that dismissal of the appeal was not warranted upon the dismissal of the named appellee.

We therefore vacate the district court’s order and remand for further proceedings, expressing no opinion as to the ultimate disposition of Malloy’s appeal from the bankruptcy court’s orders. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

VACATED AND REMANDED