Lindner & Associates, P.C. v. Richards (In Re Richards)

241 B.R. 769, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1488, 35 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 68, 1999 WL 1095321
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedDecember 1, 1999
DocketBankruptcy No. 97-01501. Adversary No. 97-0090
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 241 B.R. 769 (Lindner & Associates, P.C. v. Richards (In Re Richards)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lindner & Associates, P.C. v. Richards (In Re Richards), 241 B.R. 769, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1488, 35 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 68, 1999 WL 1095321 (D.D.C. 1999).

Opinion

ORDER RE MOTION TO RELEASE SUPERSEDEAS AND CROSS-MOTION TO EXTEND STAY PENDING APPEAL TO COURT OF APPEALS

S. MARTIN TEEL, Jr., Bankruptcy Judge.

The district court recently affirmed this court’s monetary judgment awarding *770 sanctions in the defendant’s favor. The defendant has moved for a release of the moneys deposited as a supersedeas bond staying enforcement of the judgment pending the appeal to the district court under F.R.Bankr.P. 7062. The plaintiff opposes that motion, and has cross-moved to extend the previous stay to include the appeal of the district court’s judgment to the court of appeals, with the existing deposit to serve as a supersedeas bond for that purpose.

The defendant contends that the bankruptcy court lacks authority to consider the plaintiff’s request for a stay pending an appeal to the court of appeals. 1 The court’s examination of that issue has caused the court to question as well whether the appeal in the district court is sufficiently concluded to permit this court to release the supersedeas funds.

The court will deny both the motion to release the supersedeas funds and the cross-motion for a further stay. The district court’s continued appellate jurisdiction by reason of its failure to issue a mandate means that the appeal is not yet concluded, but this by itself does not bar this court’s considering a request for a stay pending a further appeal. See part II, below. But the court nevertheless concludes that it lacks authority to issue a stay of its affirmed judgnent pending an appeal to the court of appeals: the district court and the court of appeals' are the appropriate courts from which to seek a stay under F.R.Bankr.P. 8017. See part III, below. However, the district court’s continued appellate jurisdiction means that enforcement of the supersedeas bond is premature. See part IV, below.

I

Bankruptcy appeals “shall be taken in the same manner as appeals in civil proceedings generally are taken to the courts of appeals from the district courts.” 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2). Thus, a district court’s affirmance of a bankruptcy court’s judgment is generally analogous to a court of appeals’ affirmance of a district court’s judgment in ordinary civil litigation. See Payne v. Clarendon Nat’l Ins. Co. (In re Sunset Sales, Inc.), 195 F.3d 568, 570-571 (10th Cir.1999)(observing that a court hearing an appeal from a bankruptcy court acts as an appellate court and “is therefore more analogous to a circuit court” hearing an appeal from a district court). So it is relevant to examine the case law regarding the analogous question of obtaining a stay of a district court judgment in.non-bankruptcy litigation, after the judgment has been affirmed by the court of appeals (that is, a stay pending a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court).

II

The district court loses appellate jurisdiction once it issues a mandate. See Sunset Sales, 195 F.3d at 570-571. Our district court’s local rules do not address when or how the mandate is to be issued. Compare Sunset Sales, 195 F.3d at 571-572 (local rule addressed when and how the mandate was to be issued). Under 28 U.S.C. § 158(c)(2), the court could analogize from the mandate-issuance rule that applies when a district court’s monetary judgment is' affirmed by the court of appeals. The applicable rule is F.R.App.P. 41 which provides in pertinent part:

(a) Contents. Unless the court directs that a formal mandate issue, the mandate consists of a certified copy of the judgment, a copy of the court’s opinion, if any, and any direction about costs.
(b) When Issued. The court’s mandate must issue 7 days after the time to file a petition for rehearing expires, or-7 days after entry of an order denying a timely petition for panel rehearing, rehearing en banc, or motion for stay of *771 mandate, whichever is later. The court may shorten or extend the time.

But the district court here has not issued a certified copy of its opinion and judgment, so a mandate has never issued. 2 Thus, the case is still technically within the appellate jurisdiction of the district court.

Although the district court has not issued its mandate, the resultant continued appellate jurisdiction of the district court is not a bar to this court’s considering granting a stay. The rule used to be that once the appellate court obtained jurisdiction over an appeal, the trial court was without authority to modify the supersede-as that the trial court had approved; only the appellate court was vested with control over the supersedeas during the pendency of the appeal. Draper v. Davis, 102 U.S. 370, 26 L.Ed. 121 (1880); Darrow v. Kulp (In re Federal Facilities Realty Trust), 227 F.2d 651 (7th Cir.1955). But that rule has not survived the abolition of former F.R.Civ.P. 73(e) in 1968. In re Ridgemont Apartment Assocs., Ltd., 93 B.R. 788, 791 (Bankr.N.D.Ga.1988).

One court has held that an appeal pending in the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel divested a bankruptcy court of jurisdiction to issue a stay of a financing order after the bankruptcy court had initially declined to grant a stay pending appeal. In re Adams Apple, Inc., 829 F.2d 1484, 1489 (9th Cir.1987). But Adams Apple is inconsistent with Newton v. Consolidated Gas Co., 258 U.S. 165, 177, 42 S.Ct. 264, 66 L.Ed. 538 (1922), which stated:

Undoubtedly, after appeal the trial court may, if the purposes of Justice require, preserve the status quo until decision by the appellate court. But it may not finally adjudicate substantial rights directly involved in the appeal.

(Citations omitted.) 3 Indeed, Adams Apple is inconsistent with United States v. El-O-Pathic Pharmacy, 192 F.2d 62 (9th Cir.1951), an earlier decision of the same court, which followed Newton. 4 Furthermore, the cases Adams Apple relied upon are distinguishable from the instant case. 5 In any event, Adams Apple

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Bluebook (online)
241 B.R. 769, 1999 Bankr. LEXIS 1488, 35 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 68, 1999 WL 1095321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lindner-associates-pc-v-richards-in-re-richards-dcd-1999.