American Foods v. Dezauche, Civil Action No. 3521.

• Decision Date: 16 October 1947
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3521.
• Citation: 74 F. Supp. 681
• Parties: AMERICAN FOODS, Inc., v. DEZAUCHE et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of New York

74 F. Supp. 681

AMERICAN FOODS, Inc., v. DEZAUCHE et al.

Civil Action No. 3521.

District Court, W. D. New York.

October 16, 1947.

Raichle, Tucker & Moore, of Buffalo, N. Y., for plaintiff.

Cook & Cook, by Roger T. Cook, all of Buffalo, N. Y., and Chapman & Cutler, of Chicago, Ill., for defendant John F. Dezauche, Jr.

KNIGHT, District Judge.

This suit was commenced on February 17, 1947, in the Supreme Court of New York State and later was removed on grounds of diversity of citizenship to this court. On February 21, 1947, plaintiff filed a voluntary petition in the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Illinois and was adjudicated bankrupt on February 24, 1947. One Chatz was appointed trustee of the estate of the bankrupt on March 7, 1947. On May 5, 1947, in the bankruptcy proceedings, an order was entered authorizing the trustee to retain attorneys in this action, and this Order also authorized the payment of moneys "as a retainer for services to be rendered by them in said action as hereinbefore set forth." The defendants herein now apply for an order dismissing this action or in the alternative for an order staying the action and striking certain paragraphs in the Complaint.

The motion to dismiss is based upon the ground that the action is contrary to Rule 17(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723c, because the trustee in bankruptcy is vested with title to the action and it is not being prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest. Rule 17(a) requires that every action "shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest."

The rule of law is definitely settled that a trustee in bankruptcy may either continue the prosecution pending when the adjudication was made, consent to its prosecution for the benefit of the bankrupt and not intervene, or he may take no action as to intervention. Johnson v. Collier, 222 U.S. 538, 32 S.Ct. 104, 56 L. Ed. 306; Meyer v. Fleming, 327 U.S. 161, 66 S.Ct. 382, 90 L.Ed. 595; In re Prudence Co., 2 Cir., 96 F.2d 157; Paradise v. Vogtlandische Maschinen-Fabrik, 3 Cir., 99 F.2d 53; Sherman v. Buckley, 2 Cir., 119 F.2d 280; Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C.A. § 29, sub. c.; Thatcher v. Rockwell, 105 U.S. 467, 26 L.Ed. 949. The only distinguishing fact in the instant case as regards the rule stated is that the trustee authorized the attorneys in this suit who were attorneys for the debtor in the pending suit to prosecute the suit. Does this fact make the trustee the real party in interest? It seems that the Order aforesaid contemplates the continued employment of the attorneys of record. It reads in part: "The trustee * * * is authorized to retain the firm of ____ to represent the trustee herein and this estate in the aforedescribed action pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York." The action was then pending in the Supreme Court.

It is urged that the defendants lose a substantial right unless the trustee intervenes and that this results because the defendants would not be entitled under Rule 34 to discovery against a party to an action which it would not have against a third party. The trustee is a resident of Illinois and the records said to be sought are in his possession in Illinois. Rule 34 permits discovery and production of documents and things for inspection after notice. This rule is limited to an order to a party to produce or permit inspection. However, the defendants are not remediless in this respect. The defendants can take depositions or...