Commercial Contractors, Inc., Matter of
Citation | 771 F.2d 1373 |
Decision Date | 16 August 1985 |
Docket Number | No. 83-2408,83-2408 |
Parties | 13 Collier Bankr.Cas.2d 473, 13 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 691, Bankr. L. Rep. P 70,700 In the Matter of COMMERCIAL CONTRACTORS, INC., Debtor. HOMA LTD., Assignee of Wagco, Inc., and Wagco, Inc., Appellants, v. Helen R. STONE, Trustee for Commercial Contractors, Inc., Appellee, Dowdle Sheet Metal Company, Intervenor-Appellee. |
Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit) |
Philip A. Harley of Martin, Shannon & Drought, Englewood, Colo., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Paul G. Quinn, Denver, Colo., for defendant-appellee.
Richard J. Bernick of Bernick & Moch, Denver, Colo., for intervenor-appellee.
Before HOLLOWAY, Chief Judge, SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge, and BOHANON, * District Judge.
This is an appeal from a district court order reversing a bankruptcy court's denial of a motion to intervene. Dowdle Sheet Metal Company sought to intervene in an adversary proceeding brought by Homa Ltd. and Wagco, Inc. against the bankruptcy trustee, Helen Stone. After denying intervention, the bankruptcy court approved an order of settlement in that proceeding that rescinded an agreement between Dowdle and Stone. Dowdle appealed to the district court, which concluded that Dowdle was entitled to intervention of right under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a). The court vacated the order approving settlement and remanded the case to the bankruptcy court with directions to grant Dowdle's motion to intervene and to conduct de novo hearings. Homa and Wagco appeal. We conclude that the district court order is not final, and that we are therefore without jurisdiction to hear this appeal.
Prior to the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, appellate courts had jurisdiction to hear appeals from both interlocutory and final orders. 11 U.S.C. Sec. 47 (1976) (repealed 1979). See In re Glover, 697 F.2d 907, 908 (10th Cir.1983). The 1978 Act, as amended, limited appellate jurisdiction to final orders, providing as follows:
28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 158 (Supp.1985). 1
The circuits agree that the above provisions limit the jurisdiction of the courts of appeals to reviewing final orders from the district court. See, e.g., In re Sambo's Restaurants, Inc., 754 F.2d 811, 813 (9th Cir.1985); In re Riggsby, 745 F.2d 1153, 1154 (7th Cir.1984). The courts are divided, however, on their assessment of finality within the context of bankruptcy appeals. The Third Circuit has concluded that "when the bankruptcy court issues what is indisputably a final order, and the district court issues an order affirming or reversing, the district court's order is also a final order for purposes of [section 158(d) ]." In re Marin Motor Oil, Inc., 689 F.2d 445, 449 (3d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1207, 103 S.Ct. 1196, 75 L.Ed.2d 440 (1983). This view has been adopted by one panel of the Ninth Circuit, see In re Sambo's, 754 F.2d at 814, and one panel of the Eighth Circuit, see In re Bestmann, 720 F.2d 484, 486 (8th Cir.1983).
The Seventh Circuit has rejected the above conclusion, holding that "a decision of the district court on appeal from a bankruptcy judge's final order is not itself final if the decision remands the case to the bankruptcy judge for significant further proceedings...." In re Riggsby, 745 F.2d at 1156. This position has been adopted by one panel of the Ninth Circuit, see In re Martinez, 721 F.2d 262, 265 (9th Cir.1983), one panel of the Eighth Circuit, see In re Hansen, 702 F.2d 728, 729 (8th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1208, 103 S.Ct. 3539, 77 L.Ed.2d 1389 (1983), the Fifth Circuit, see In re Emerald Oil Co., 694 F.2d 88, 89 (5th Cir.1982) (per curiam), and the Eleventh Circuit, see In re Regency Woods Apartments, Ltd., 686 F.2d 899, 901-902 (11th Cir.1982) (per curiam).
We find the Seventh Circuit's analysis persuasive. As a practical matter, the more traditional view of finality set out in In re Riggsby furthers the policy underlying the finality doctrine by controlling piecemeal adjudication and eliminating the delays caused by the appeal of interlocutory decisions.
In re Riggsby, 745 F.2d at 1155-56 (citation...
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