Tidwell v. Slocumb (In Re Georgia Steel, Inc.)

71 B.R. 903, 3 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 803, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 428
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 30, 1987
Docket17-71133
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 71 B.R. 903 (Tidwell v. Slocumb (In Re Georgia Steel, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tidwell v. Slocumb (In Re Georgia Steel, Inc.), 71 B.R. 903, 3 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 803, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 428 (Ga. 1987).

Opinion

ROBERT F. HERSHNER, Jr., Chief Judge.

STATEMENT OF CASE

On September 3, 1981, Georgia Steel, Inc., d/b/a Eastern Crane & Equipment, d/b/a Plate Services, d/b/a Georgia Struc-turals, and d/b/a Quickwork, Debtor, filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. On October 29, 1982, Debtor’s Chapter 11 case was converted by the Court to Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, and J. Coleman Tidwell, Trustee, was appointed trustee of Debtor’s bankruptcy estate.

On July 2, 1984, the Trustee filed a complaint to avoid certain transfers of property Debtor made to Margaret C. Slocumb, as trustee for Robert Edward Slocumb, John T. Slocumb, William Ashley Slocumb, Liesl Paige Slocumb, Jennifer Lynne Slocumb, and Burke L. Slocumb, III, and Burke L. Slocumb, Jr., Defendants. 1 Tri-State Machinery Company, Inc., Plaintiff, filed a motion to intervene was a plaintiff in this adversary proceeding on April 10, 1985. After a hearing was held on the motion, the Court, on April 10, 1985, granted Plaintiff’s motion to intervene as a plaintiff. In its complaint filed as an intervening plaintiff on April 10, 1985, Plaintiff asserts a valid and enforceable interest in a certain SS-200A Motorola Radio Transmission Tower superior to any interest of the Trustee or Defendants.

On May 8, 1985, the parties submitted a pretrial order to the Court, and the Court signed an order on November 26, 1985, nunc pro tunc for May 9, 1985, making the pretrial order the final pretrial order in this adversary proceeding. 2 On September 6, *905 1985, the Trustee filed a “Motion for Approval of Compromise and Settlement of Claims” pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9019. 3 The Court signed a consent order on November 21, 1985, approving a compromise and settlement agreement between the Trustee and Defendants. Under the terms of the compromise and settlement agreement, the Trustee transferred any interest that Debtor’s bankruptcy estate had in the radio tower to Mrs. Margaret Slo-cumb (Mrs. Slocumb).

On November 19, 1985, Plaintiffs complaint came on for trial. The Court, having considered the evidence presented and the arguments of counsel, now publishes its findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

In 1973, a SS-200A Motorola Radio Transmission Tower (radio tower) was acquired and erected on Debtor’s premises at Fuller Street in Macon, Georgia. A fact greatly in dispute is what entity acquired this radio tower. Plaintiff contends that the evidence supports a finding that Debtor originally acquired the radio tower, but Defendants disagree with this contention. Mrs. Slocumb and Mr. Gilbert Bennett, Debtor’s certified public accountant, testified at the trial that the radio tower was originally purchased by Mrs. Lillian Slo-cumb and transferred for consideration to the Slocumb trusts before Mrs. Lillian Slo-cumb died. Mr. Burke Slocumb, Jr., testified that Debtor purchased the radio tower through work orders for the Slocumb trusts, and then the Slocumb trusts reimbursed Debtor.

Based upon the pretrial order, Plaintiff objects to any assertion by Defendants that any other entity than Debtor originally acquired the radio tower. Plaintiff contends that such an assertion raises a new factual allegation previously undisputed which cannot be raised unless the Court allows the pretrial order to be modified to prevent manifest injustice. 4 After the trial, Defendants’ counsel moved to amend the pretrial order to raise this factual allegation. Defendants’ counsel asserts that the motion to amend should be granted because this factual allegation was unknown to him until shortly before trial, that Plaintiff’s counsel was informed of this factual allegation well over one month before trial, and that in a nonjury proceeding, such as the one before the Court, leave to amend should be freely granted.

Rule 16(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides:

(e) Pretrial Orders. After any conference held pursuant to this rule, an order shall be entered reciting the action taken. This order shall control the subsequent course of the action unless modified by a subsequent order. The order following a final pretrial conference shall be modified only to prevent manifest injustice.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(e). 5 The moving party has the burden of establishing such manifest injustice. Smith v. Ford Motor Co., 626 F.2d 784, 795 (10th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 918, 101 S.Ct. 1363, 67 L.Ed.2d 344 (1981).

In determining whether a pretrial order should be amended under Rule 16, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals noted that:

Pretrial orders play a crucial role in implementing the purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” F.R.Civ.P. 1. Unless pretrial orders are honored and *906 enforced, the objectives of the pretrial conference to simplify issues and avoid unnecessary proof by obtaining admissions of fact will be jeopardized if not entirely nullified. Accordingly, a party need offer no proof at trial as to matters agreed to in the order, nor may a party offer evidence or advance theories at the trial which are not included in the order or which contradict its terms. Disregard of these principles would bring back the days of trial by ambush and discourage timely preparation by the parties for trial.
That is not to say that a pretrial order should not be liberally construed to permit evidence and theories at trial that can fairly be said to be embraced within its language. But particular evidence or theories which are not at least implicitly included in the order are barred unless the order is first “modified to prevent manifest injustice.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 16.

United States v. First National Bank of Circle, 652 F.2d 882, 886-87 (9th Cir.1981) (footnotes and accompanying citations omitted). See also Hale v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 756 F.2d 1322, 1335 (8th Cir.1985); Coastal States Marketing, Inc. v. Hunt, 694 F.2d 1358, 1369, reh’g denied, 699 F.2d 1163 (5th Cir.1983) (trial court has the duty to relieve a party from a pretrial stipulation when it is necessary to avoid manifest injustice or when there is substantial evidence contrary to the stipulation); Donovan v.

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Bluebook (online)
71 B.R. 903, 3 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 803, 1987 Bankr. LEXIS 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tidwell-v-slocumb-in-re-georgia-steel-inc-gamb-1987.