Genovese, In re

• Decision Date: 12 September 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-1984,95-1984
• Parties: NOTICE: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit. In re: John J. GENOVESE Debtor. A. Charles D'AGOSTINO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John J. GENOVESE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1438

96 F.3d 1438

NOTICE: Fourth Circuit Local Rule 36(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit.

In re: John J. GENOVESE Debtor.

A. Charles D'AGOSTINO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John J. GENOVESE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-1984.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued June 3, 1996.

Decided Sept. 12, 1996.

ARGUED: Michael Shawn Santa Barbara, CAMILLETTI, OLLAR & SANTA BARBARA, Martinsburg, West Virginia, for Appellant.

Daniel T. Booth, MARTIN & SEIBERT, L.C., Martinsburg, West Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Scott A. Ollar, THE LAW OFFICE OF SCOTT A. OLLAR, Martinsburg, West Virginia, for Appellant.

N.D.W.Va.

AFFIRMED.

Before MURNAGHAN and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and MACKENZIE, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiff-appellee Charles D'Agostino represented Michelle Genovese in lengthy divorce and custodial proceedings in New York state against her ex-husband, defendant-appellant John Genovese. After seven years, the New York court dismissed the divorce action, but awarded custody and child support to Michelle Genovese. Following the New York court's dismissal, John Genovese filed for and received a divorce in West Virginia.

Subsequently, in a separate proceeding, D'Agostino sought to collect attorney's fees for his representation of Michelle Genovese from John Genovese. After a trial, where John Genovese was represented by counsel, but did not appear personally, the New York court awarded D'Agostino attorney's fees payable by John Genovese as necessaries for his wife and child's support during the protracted divorce.

D'Agostino registered his judgment in West Virginia and initiated enforcement proceedings against John Genovese. John Genovese, however, filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the federal Bankruptcy Code in West Virginia. The bankruptcy court found that the attorney's fee award was dischargeable under the Code. The district court reversed, finding that the award was nondischargeable because it was in the nature of nondischargeable alimony, maintenance, and support under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5). Further, the district court held that the New York state court's factual finding that the attorney's fees were necessary for support of Michelle Genovese and her son was entitled to deference and was binding upon the federal courts under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. John Genovese appeals the district court's ruling. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I

Section 523(a)(5) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that a discharge from debt "does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt ... to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor, for alimony to, maintenance for, or support of such spouse or child, in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree or other order of a court of record." Nondischargeable debt under § 523(a)(5)(B) includes debt "in the nature of alimony, maintenance, or support."

Whether a debt is in the nature of alimony, maintenance, or support is a question of Federal Bankruptcy law. Sylvester v. Sylvester, 865 F.2d 1164, 1166 (10th Cir.1989) (per curiam). Thus, the bankruptcy court has exclusive jurisdiction to make the legal conclusion as to whether a debt is dischargeable. Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 289 (1991) (explaining that Congress amended Bankruptcy Act in 1970 to make nondischargeability a question of federal law independent of the issue of the validity of the underlying claim).

Under federal law, when an award of attorney's fees as necessaries is at issue, the dispositive question is whether the court making the award intended it to be in the nature of support. Matter of Long, 794 F.2d 928, 931 (4th Cir.1986); Tilley v. Jessee, 789 F.2d 1074, 1078 n. 4 (4th Cir.1986). The New York state court awarded the fees as necessaries, clearly indicating that they were awarded based on the "need of the spouse." The New York court stated:

As for the necessaries, the Court finds there was a need of the spouse, and even when the needs were there the husband did not comply with valid orders and maneuvered his way around so that he would not have to pay the various income and maintenance and support he should have paid. (emphasis added). The New York state court further found that John Genovese, who had earned a substantial income, had been dishonest with the court and depleted himself of every asset possible through the purchase of boats and the like, in order to avoid paying income and maintenance to his wife and children. The New York court further noted the disparity in income between Michelle Genovese, who did not work, and her husband, whose earnings had fluctuated between $43,000 per year and close to six figures, and the husband's failure to comply with orders and to pay income and maintenance to his wife and children that he should have paid. Disparity in earning power is a factor to be considered when determining whether an award of attorney's fees is in the nature of alimony, maintenance, and support. In re Joseph, 16 F.3d 86, 88 (5th Cir.1994).

For all of those reasons, the New York court awarded $42,475.00 in attorney's fees, plus interest and cost, to D'Agostino as necessaries under a theory of quantum meruit. The judgment was upheld on appeal. Thus, the bankruptcy court had before it a judgment by a court of record for attorney's fees intended by the New York court as maintenance and support for Michelle Genovese and her son. Under federal law, therefore, the judgment was nondischargeable under the Bankruptcy Code.

II

The bankruptcy court, however, reviewed the New York trial transcript and orders and determined that the attorney's fees were not in the nature or alimony, support, or maintenance dischargeable under § 523(a)(5). Collateral estoppel prevented the bankruptcy judge from making that determination.

Under the doctrine of collateral estoppel or issue preclusion, a judgment debtor may be precluded in bankruptcy proceedings from relitigating an issue of fact previously decided in a state court. Garner, 498 U.S. at 284 & 284-85 n. 11; In Re McNallen, 62 F.3d 619, 624 (4th Cir.1995). Thus, despite the bankruptcy court's exclusive jurisdiction to determine dischargeability, it does not need to redetermine all facts underlying the legal inquiry if they were previously determined in an earlier lawsuit. Garner, 498 U.S. at 278-79 n. 11. In keeping with that principle, the Fourth Circuit bars factual findings in state court from being relitigated in federal bankruptcy proceedings where the requirements of collateral estoppel are met. Combs v. Richardson, 838 F.2d 112, 114-16 (4th Cir.1988); In re Raynor, 922 F.2d 1146, 1148-49 (4th Cir.1991).

In determining the preclusive effect of the New York court's findings of fact, we "must, as a matter of full faith and credit, apply the forum state's law of collateral estoppel." In re McNallen, 62 F.3d at 624. The district court did not discuss with specificity the collateral estoppel requirements it applied. Thus, it did not clarify whether it applied New York or Fourth Circuit principles of collateral estoppel. Because there is no material difference between the requirements for collateral estoppel under New York law versus Fourth Circuit law, that failure is immaterial. Compare Continental Casualty Co. v. Rapid-American Corp., 609 N.E.2d 506, 510 (N.Y.1993) with Ramsay v. United States Immigration & Naturalization Serv., 14 F.2d 206, 210 (4th Cir.1994).

New York law requires that an issue be precluded from being relitigated if it is: (1) identical to that litigated previously; and (2) the parties seeking to be estopped had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue. Continental Casualty, 609 N.E.2d at 510. John Genovese concedes that the elements of collateral estoppel...