In re Brundin
| Decision Date | 14 December 1901 |
| Parties | In re BRUNDIN et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
H. H Dunn and Morgan & Meighen, for creditors.
W. L Comstock, for bankrupts.
In this case the attorney for the bankrupts presented to the referee for allowance his claim for services rendered the bankrupts in the proceeding, and for his disbursements connected therewith, amounting in all to the sum of $806.05, and against the objections of the trustee, it as allowed in the sum of $700. Upon the petition of the trustee the matter has been certified to me for review, and the respective parties have been fully heard.
Counsel for the trustee admitted upon the argument that the attorney for the bankrupts had rendered the services and made the disbursements for which he has charged, and that his charges are, as between attorney and client, reasonable, and not excessive; but they urge that the services and disbursements were, in large part, for matters outside of the performance of the bankrupts' duties, in aid of the estate and its administration, and for the personal benefit of the bankrupts alone, and therefore not payable out of the estate. It appears that services and disbursements to the amount of $271.10, being the first 14 items in the bill of account were expended in the preparation of the estate; and, while the propriety of allowing some of these items may not seem entirely clear, yet, in view of the admission referred to, I do not feel called upon to scan these items closely, and they will be allowed. The remaining services and disbursements charged for were all expended in the contest which arose upon the opposition of certain of the creditors to the granting of the bankrupts' petition for discharge.
Section 64b, cl. 3, provides that, among the debts having priority, shall be paid 'the cost of administration, including * * * one reasonable attorney's fee, for the professional services actually rendered, irrespective of the number of attorneys employed, to the petitioning creditors in involuntary cases, to the bankrupt in involuntary cases while performing the duties herein prescribed, and to the bankrupt in voluntary cases, as the court may allow. ' This is the only authority in the act for the allowance of attorney's fees, and, in view of the manifest purpose of the act to keep expenditures at the minimum, must receive a fairly strict construction.
It will be observed from the language of the act above quoted that the only allowance of attorney's fees is as part of...
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Abrams v. United States
...of the proceedings could be preferred despite the fact that the Act contained no affirmative provision so allowing. See, In re Brundin, D.C.Minn., 1901, 112 F. 306; In re Mayer, D.C.E.D.Wis., 1900, 101 F. 695, No. 370; In re Andrews, D.C.W.D. Pa., 1897, 1 Fed.Cas. page 867; In re Kennedy, D......
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In re Rothman
...harmony. Some are to the effect that no fee will be allowed the bankrupt's attorney for work done in obtaining a discharge. In re Brundlin, 112 F. 306 (D.C.Minn.); In re Duran Mercantile Co., 199 F. 961 (D.C. N.M.). Remington supports this view. Remington on Bankruptcy, §§ 2722, 2726. There......
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In re Rothman
...problem has never been considered by a Circuit Court of Appeals. District Judges have expressed divergent views. The cases of In re Brundin, 112 F. 306 (D.C.Minn.), and In re Duran Mercantile Co., 199 F. 961 (D.C.N.M.), hold that no fee can be allowed out of the bankrupt's estate for servic......
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In re Hollis Lumber Co.
...in bankruptcy. Matter of Bohrman (D. C.) 224 F. 287; Matter of Hammel (D. C.) 211 F. 238; In re O'Hara (D. C.) 166 F. 384; In re Brundin (D. C.) 112 F. 306; Collier on Bankruptcy (13th Ed.) p. 1367. Ordinarily there is freedom of contract between the attorney and client. Supervision, of cou......