Meikle v. Export Lumber Co.

67 F.2d 301, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4443
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 23, 1933
DocketNo. 7187
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 67 F.2d 301 (Meikle v. Export Lumber Co.) 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
Meikle v. Export Lumber Co., 67 F.2d 301, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4443 (9th Cir. 1933).

Opinion

SAWTELLE, Circuit Judge.

This appeal involves the allowance of the claim of the Export Lumber Company, in the sum of $73,843.39. Upon the trustee’s objection, the referee held the claim not to be allowable under section 57g of the Bankruptcy Act (11 USCA § 93 (g). Upon review, the District Court reversed the order of the referee.

The written stipulation of facts filed with the referee accompanied his certificate on review. The stipulation recites, among other things, that on September 30, 1926, the bankrupt was indebted to appellee in the approximate amount of $100,000; that on September 20, 1928, the bankrupt sold to Hines Lumber Company substantially all of the assets of the bankrupt for the sum of $750,000, subject to a secured indebtedness of $250,000; that the bankrupt delivered to the purchaser a purported list of the creditors of the bankrupt appearing on its books, except those included in the Ered Herrick account; that subsequent thereto the bankrupt executed and delivered to the said Hines Lumber Company an authorization to distribute the proceeds of said sale to the bankrupt’s creditors; “that pursuant to said authorization, the Hines Lumber Company did distribute the purchase price of said property in the manner therein provided, and did execute two checks, one in the sum of $37,677.19, and the other in the sum of $2,764.52; that the first cheek mentioned was delivered to and received by the Export, but that the second cheek was endorsed by Ered Herrick in the name of the Export and delivered to Armour & Company, a creditor of the Milwaukee Lumber Company, in payment of the debt owing by the Milwaukee Lumber Company to Armour & Company, such payment thus inuring to the benefit of the Milwaukee Lumber Company and not to the benefit of the Export; that, up to and including the time of the payment of said sum of money, Ered Herrick was president and director and principal stockholder of both the Export and the Bankrupt, and that, at the time of said payment, both the Export and the Bankrupt were insolvent, but that the insolvency of the Bankrupt at the time mentioned did and does depend upon the inclusion in its liabilities of the claims of affiliated companies, viz.: the Export and the Milwaukee Lumber Co. and of Pred Herrick personally; that the sum of $37,677.19 received by the Export, as hereinabove stated, was turned over and delivered to Conrad Johnson, Yiee-President and General Manager of the Export, and by him deposited to the credit of the Export and used by the Export in the payment of labor claims and taxes for which the Export was at that time legitimately indebted, and that no part thereof inured to the benefit of Ered Herrick personally or of any other stockholder, director or officer of the Bankrupt; that, at the time of such payment, the Export was indebted to various and diverse creditors on legitimate obligations, in a sum in excess of the value of its assets; that, a short while subsequent to the payment of said sum of money to the Export, the Export passed into the possession and under the control of its creditors, and that the Export is now managed and controlled by a Board of Directors and officers •representing its creditors; that the Export has not sufficient assets with which to pay its existing indebtedness, and that the stockholders of the Export have not benefited and [302]*302will not benefit as a result of the payment hereinabove mentioned.”

The payment to appellee of approximately $40,000 was made on or about October 4, 1928. Thereafter it filed in the bankruptcy proceeding a claim for the sum of $73,843.39, which was duly allowed by the referee.

On November 8, 1932, appellant filed with the referee his “Objections to allowance of claim of Export Lumber Company,” which reads as follows: “Comes now J. D. Meikle, Trustee of the above entitled cause, through his attorney Sidney Teiser and objects to the allowance of the claim of the Export Lumber Company in the amount of $73,843.39, or in any amount for the reason that the Export Lumber Company on or about the 4th day of October, 1928, was paid by, or out of the funds of, the Fred Herrick Lumber Company the sums of $37,677.19 and $2,764.-52, and at the time of the payment to it of such sums, Fred Herrick Lumber Company was insolvent and that at the time of said payment of said sums to the Export Lumber Company, the said Fred Herrick Lumber Company contemplated a discontinuance of its business, and in fact had discontinued its business, and that the payment by the Fred Herrick Lumber Company to it of said sums and the receipt of said sums by the said Export Lumber Company was in contravention of the trust fund doctrine applicable to corporations organized and existing under the laws of the State of Oregon, since the Export Lumber Company received a larger proportion of its claim than other creditors received or would receive: namely, Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., Milwaukee Lumber Company, and others. And that, having received said sums, as aforesaid, it, the said Export Lumber Company, has not surrendered said money paid to it, as required by section 57 (g) of the Bankruptcy Act; and said J. D. Meikle, Trustee as aforesaid, through his attorney Sidney Teiser, moves that said claim of the Export Lumber Company, having been allowed, be reconsidered and rejected in whole, for the reasons above set forth.”

In the findings and order rejecting the claim of the Export Lumber Company, the referee stated:

“The question now to be determined is whether this payment to the Export Lumber Company constituted a preference, as contended by the trustee; if so it may not, on that account, be paid a .dividend until it shall have repaid to the trustee the said alleged preference.

“Were this payment questioned under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act relating to unlawful preferences, it would, should reasonable cause to believe be 'fastened upon the creditor, be pronounced wholly void, but those sections are not invoiced and there is no proof produced therein. Instead the trustee seeks to establish the invalidity of the payment when tested under the rays of the Oregon trust fund doctrine, or what is asserted to be such doctrine.” (Italics our own.)

As stated above, this order was reversed. It thus appears that appellant’s sole objection to the allowance of the claim was based upon the ground that the Fred Herrick Lumber Company was insolvent and that at the time of the payments of said sums to the Export Lumber Company the said lumber company contemplated a discontinuance of its business, and in fact had discontinued its business and that such payment of said sums was in contravention of the trust fund doctrine applicable to corporations organized and existing under the laws of the State of Oregon.

The referee considered, and the District Court disposed of, the matter solely upon the ground stated; and the assignments of error raise no other question.

Appellant, in his brief in this court, contends, however, that the referee’s determination was correct, “not only on the grounds set forth by the Referee in his findings and order, but also on the further ground that under section 67e of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 US •CA § 107 (e), the transfer (payment) was with the intent on the part of the bankrupt ■to hinder, delay or defraud some of its creditors.”

We agree with the referee that the matter should be disposed of solely on the ground .as set forth in the appellant’s written objection. The matter will therefore be determined in accordance with appellant’s original contention.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Swimmer v. Moeller (In Re Moeller)
466 B.R. 525 (S.D. California, 2012)
Ellis v. Fusao Yumen
324 F. Supp. 1314 (D. Hawaii, 1971)
In Re Fox West Coast Theatres
88 F.2d 212 (Ninth Circuit, 1937)
Tally v. Fox Film Corp.
88 F.2d 212 (Ninth Circuit, 1937)
Meikle v. Drain
69 F.2d 290 (Ninth Circuit, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 F.2d 301, 1933 U.S. App. LEXIS 4443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meikle-v-export-lumber-co-ca9-1933.