Szybist v. Summers (In re Summers)

150 B.R. 129, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 202
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 29, 1993
DocketBankruptcy No. 5-90-00471; Adv. No. 5-91-0006
StatusPublished

This text of 150 B.R. 129 (Szybist v. Summers (In re Summers)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Szybist v. Summers (In re Summers), 150 B.R. 129, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 202 (M.D. Pa. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court is a Motion of Charles A. Szybist, Esquire (hereinafter “Plaintiff”) requesting this Court to reconsider its earlier Order of September 16, 1992 and for further post-trial relief; namely, a new trial of the underlying issue. For the reasons provided herein, we deny the Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration and further post-trial relief.

The facts are as follows. On or about May of 1991 the Plaintiff filed a three count Complaint against the Defendant alleging a preferential transfer under 11 U.S.C. § 547 and a fraudulent conveyance under § 548 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Further, the Complaint requests that the alleged lien of the Defendant be relegated to a position behind the Trustee pursuant to the dictates of § 544 of the Code. The matter was fully briefed and after the presentation of the evidence on the preferential transfer count the Court, upon Motion of the Defendant, dismissed the preferential cause of action. At the conclusion of the testimony on the fraudulent conveyance action the Court, once again, on Motion of the Defendant, granted a Motion to Dismiss the fraudulent conveyance action. Following the conclusion of the evidence submitted during the fraudulent conveyance cause of action, however, the Court found facts sufficient to find the existence of a preferential transfer based on the Defendant’s testimony and exhibits. It is this September 16, 1992 Order dismissing both the preferential and fraudulent conveyance actions but nonetheless finding facts supporting the existence of a preferential transfer based on Defendant’s testimony and exhibits which is the basis of the instant Motion.

The Motion for Reconsideration more specifically indicates that at the conclusion of the preferential transfer testimony the Court dismissed that action based upon the finding that there was no creditor/debtor relationship between the debtor and the Defendant. The Motion further provides that at the close of all the evidence when the case was dismissed the Court found as a fact that there was a debtor/creditor relationship between the Defendant and the Plaintiff and made all other findings of fact which would have supported the cause of action under the preferential transfer section of the Bankruptcy Code. Consequently, Plaintiff requests the Bankruptcy Court to exercise its equitable powers to reconsider, modify, or vacate its own Order because that would accomplish justice. Defendant’s response is to request the Court to deny the Motion and in support thereof [131]*131the Defendant recounts the testimony presented at the time of the trial and makes basically the same arguments in its trial brief and in its answer that the underlying facts do not give rise to either a preferential transfer or fraudulent conveyance action.

When confronted with a Motion for Reconsideration this Court finds much guidance in In re Fidelity State Bank, 130 B.R. 578 (D.Kansas 1991), in which the Court writes the following:

The refusal to grant relief in a motion to reconsider is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. See Hancock v. City of Oklahoma City, 857 F.2d 1394, 1395 (10th Cir.1988). A motion to reconsider is appropriate when the court has obviously misapprehended a party’s position or the facts or applicable law, or when the party produces new evidence that could not have been obtained through the exercise of due diligence. Anderson v. United Auto Workers, 738 F.Supp. 441, 442 (D.Kan.1990); Taliaferro v. City of Kansas City, 128 F.R.D. 675, 677 (D.Kan.1989). An improper use of the motion to reconsider “can waste judicial resources and obstruct the efficient administration of justice.” United States ex rel. Houck v. Folding Carton Administration Committee, 121 F.R.D. 69, 71 (N.D.Ill.1988). Thus, a party who fails to present his strongest case in the first instance generally has no right to raise new theories or arguments in a motion to reconsider. Renfro v. City of Emporia, 732 F.Supp. 1116, 1117 (D.Kan.1990); Butler v. Sentry Insurance, 640 F.Supp. 806, 812 (N.D.Ill.1986).

Plaintiff’s Motion requests reconsideration or in the alternative a new trial pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9023. Ordinarily, motions to reconsider are brought under Rule 9024 and motions for new trial are brought under Rule 9023. This Court will treat the instant Motion as a request under both Rule 59 and 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as made applicable to bankruptcy cases by Bankruptcy Rule of Procedure 9023 and 9024 respectively. We take this approach because it is the function of the Motion, not the caption which dictates which rules apply. Turner v. Evers, 726 F.2d 112, 114 (3rd Cir.1984). Furthermore, the distinction between a Motion filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59 as opposed to those filed under Rule 60(b) is that under Rule 59, the motion must be served in a timely fashion; namely, within ten (10) days from the date of the order subject to the motion under Rule 59. If that service is timely the Debtor has the potential to invoke either of the procedural rules and the remedies contemplated therein. See In Re Tuan Tan Dinh, 90 B.R. 743 (Bkrtcy.E.D.Pa.1988), Citing Smith v. Evans, 853 F.2d 155, 157-62 (3rd Cir.1988), and In re Campfire Shop, Inc., 71 B.R. 521, 523-24 (Bkrtcy.E.D.Pa.1987).

Initially, we will review the instant motion under the dictates as contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) as made applicable in bankruptcy proceedings by bankruptcy Rule 9024. We look to the In re Tuan Tan Dinh case at page 745 which provides the following:

... A Rule 60(b) motion, on the other hand, contemplates relief on the basis of a mistake, inadvertence, excusable neglect, or newly-discovered evidence by a party, or ‘any other reason.’ However, such a motion does not, generally, empower the court to change its decision if it believes, after submission of the motion, that it has simply erred on legal grounds. See Smith, at 158-59; and 7 J. MOORE, FEDERAL PRACTICE, 60.-22[2], at 11 60-175 to 60-185 (2d ed. 1988).

The Movant directs our attention to the case of In re Durkalec, 21 B.R. 618 (Bkrtcy.E.D.Pa.1982) for the proposition that a Court may vacate or modify an Order to accomplish justice. The Movant further indicates that this standard was adopted by the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the case of In re Johnson v. Morgan, 29 B.R. 372 (Bkrtcy.M.D.Pa.1983). This Court recognizes, as a general matter, the propositions enunciated by the Durka-lec Court, and in particular, that in the interest of equity and justice, a bankruptcy court may be justified in vacating a final judgment.

[132]

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

Related

United States v. Swift & Co.
286 U.S. 106 (Supreme Court, 1932)
Meral Smith v. Melvin H. Evans
853 F.2d 155 (Third Circuit, 1988)
Butler v. Sentry Insurance a Mutual Co.
640 F. Supp. 806 (N.D. Illinois, 1986)
In Re Tuan Tan Dinh
90 B.R. 743 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1988)
Sprague, Thall & Albert v. Woerner (In Re Woerner)
66 B.R. 964 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1986)
Anderson v. United Auto Workers
738 F. Supp. 441 (D. Kansas, 1990)
Renfro v. City of Emporia, Kan.
732 F. Supp. 1116 (D. Kansas, 1990)
Turner v. Evers
726 F.2d 112 (Third Circuit, 1984)
Taliaferro v. City of Kansas City
128 F.R.D. 675 (D. Kansas, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
150 B.R. 129, 1993 Bankr. LEXIS 202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/szybist-v-summers-in-re-summers-pamd-1993.