Mathieson v. Harry F. Shea & Co. (In re Mathieson)

75 B.R. 340, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6618
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 16, 1987
DocketNo. 87 C 3330
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 75 B.R. 340 (Mathieson v. Harry F. Shea & Co. (In re Mathieson)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mathieson v. Harry F. Shea & Co. (In re Mathieson), 75 B.R. 340, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6618 (N.D. Ill. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ASPEN, District Judge:

Defendants Harry F. Shea & Co (“HFS”) and Robert E. Shea (“Shea”) filed an emergency motion for leave to appeal Bankruptcy Judge Susan Pierson DeWitt’s entry of a temporary restraining order in this adversary proceeding. They filed a concurrent emergency summary motion for relief from the “injunction.” Chapter 11 debtor and adversary proceeding plaintiff James E. Mathieson argues in response that this Court has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal because no final judgment was entered by the bankruptcy court, the collateral order doctrine does not apply and nothing justifies this Court’s exercise of its discretionary authority to hear an interlocutory appeal. In the alternative, Mathieson argues that the bankruptcy judge’s grant of the temporary restraining order was not “clear error.” For the following reasons, we deny the defendants’ emergency motion for leave to appeal the temporary restraining order and remand this case to Judge De-Witt to proceed with the preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Judge DeWitt orally granted the temporary restraining order on April 7, 1987, following a short oral argument and presentation of exhibits on the preceding day. A written order to the same effect was issued on April 10, 1987. The defendants had notice of the hearing and were represented by counsel. After entering her order, the bankruptcy judge set the matter for an evidentiary hearing on a preliminary injunction on April 17, 1987. The temporary restraining order restrained HFS and Shea from violating the automatic stay provisions. 11 U.S.C. § 362 (1982 & Supp. Ill 1985). Specifically, the defendants were restrained from interfering with business relationships between Mathieson, his new firm and its clients, from disseminating false and misleading information concerning state court litigation between Mathie-son and Shea, from disseminating false and misleading information concerning Mathie-son’s reorganization case, from interfering with the orderly administration of the reorganization and from instituting litigation against Mathieson’s partners or his new firm (a copy of Judge DeWitt’s order is attached to this order as Appendix A). The defendants argue that the order is vague, overbroad and acts as a prior restraint on their speech in violation of the First Amendment.

Appeals to this Court from the bankruptcy court are governed by 28 U.S.C. § 158 (Supp. Ill 1985), which parallels the provisions in the code for appeals from the district court to the court of appeals. The customary final judgment rule applies under § 158(a), but the district court may also exercise discretionary authority to hear appeals from interlocutory orders and decrees made by the bankruptcy court. We first reject the defendants’ contention that they have an appeal as a matter of right from the entry of a temporary restraining order by the bankruptcy court. Neither temporary restraining orders nor preliminary injunctions are considered to be final judgments. Aurora Bancshares Corp. v. Weston, 777 F.2d 385, 386 (7th Cir.1985).

The statute regarding appeals from the district court to the court of appeals, which we draw on by analogy, provides for interlocutory appellate jurisdiction over orders from district courts “granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions.” 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) (1982). Nonetheless, while under ordinary circumstances a preliminary injunction is appeal-able under that statute, a temporary restraining order is clearly not. Manbourne, Inc. v. Conrad, 796 F.2d 884, 887 n. 3 (7th Cir.1986); Weintraub v. Hanrahan, 435 F.2d 461, 462-63 (7th Cir.1970).

In the present case, the bankruptcy judge entered a temporary restraining order effective for a period of limited duration, Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(b); Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7065, and set the matter for hearing on a preliminary injunction on April 17, 1987. [342]*342The hearing on April 7,1987, however, was not an ex parte proceeding. Mathieson filed his emergency verified application for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on April 6, 1987, and the defendants were given notice of this motion and were represented by counsel at the April 7 hearing. Accordingly, the proceeding had some resemblance to one for a preliminary injunction even though the order itself did not.

Although the general rule, as cited above, is that an appellate court cannot hear an appeal from a temporary restraining order as opposed to a preliminary injunction, the Court need not be concerned with the label put on the order by the lower court. San Francisco Real Estate Investors v. Real Estate Investment Trust, 692 F.2d 814, 816 (9th Cir.1982). Rather, the reviewing court should look to surrounding factors in determining the nature of the order for the purposes of appellate jurisdiction. 11 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2962 (1973). Some courts have suggested that a temporary restraining order may in special circumstances be treated as an appealable preliminary injunction. Id., and cases cited therein. We observe, however, that all of these cases represent circumstances which undermine the ordinary rationales for barring appeals from temporary restraining orders, such as the brief duration of such orders, the often ex parte nature of the proceedings and the lack of opportunity for a full presentation of the facts and law to the trial court. See San Francisco Real Estate, 692 F.2d at 816 (“[w]hen particular temporary restraining orders lack the features of short duration and ex parte presentation that are normally associated with them, courts have taken jurisdiction over appeals in appropriate circumstances”) (emphasis added); Sampson v. Murray, 415 U.S. 61, 86-88, 94 S.Ct. 937, 951, 39 L.Ed.2d 166 (1974) (temporary restraining order extended beyond period permissible under Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(b)); Spencer Companies v. Armonk Industries, Inc., 489 F.2d 704, 706 (1st Cir.1973) (adversary hearing held and preliminary injunction hearing would not have been prompt because judge was not available until a month later; had preliminary injunction hearing been available, order would not be appealable); Morning Telegraph v. Powers, 450 F.2d 97, 99 (2d Cir.1971) (no time limit on restraining order, three separate hearings held before relief granted), cert.

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Bluebook (online)
75 B.R. 340, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mathieson-v-harry-f-shea-co-in-re-mathieson-ilnd-1987.