Leas v. Courtney Company
| Decision Date | 20 October 1958 |
| Docket Number | No. 7740.,7740. |
| Citation | 261 F.2d 13 |
| Parties | A. Robert LEAS, Appellant, v. COURTNEY COMPANY, a corporation, Appellee. In the Matter of NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, Debtor. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
J. B. Fisher, Charleston, W. Va. (Morgan V. Martin, Martinsburg, W. Va., on brief), for appellant.
Robert S. Spilman, Jr., Charleston, W. Va. (Frederick L. Thomas, Jr., and Spilman, Thomas, Battle & Klostermeyer, Charleston, W. Va., on brief), for appellee.
Before SOBELOFF, Chief Judge, HAYNSWORTH, Circuit Judge, and HARRY E. WATKINS, District Judge.
This is an appeal from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granting a motion for summary judgment dismissing, as not having been filed in good faith, a petition for the reorganization of a corporation under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C.A. § 501 et seq. Appellant urges that issues of fact exist which preclude summary judgment, and require the hearing of evidence by the lower court. We find no merit in this contention and feel the petition was properly dismissed.
Appellant and two other alleged creditors petitioned for a reorganization of the National Development Corporation, a company engaged in the operation of coal properties in southern West Virginia. The petition alleged that this debtor's cash on hand was insufficient to meet current liabilities; that all of its property was subject to a purchase-money deed of trust securing a $400,000 promissory note, upon which the debtor was in default and upon which foreclosure proceedings had been begun; that the debtor was in danger of losing all its assets; and that corporate reorganization was necessary to revise the capital structure of the company, readjust the secured indebtedness, and reduce and extend interest and amortization payments thereon. Appellee, who had sold the debtor coal lands which made up virtually all the debtor's assets and who was the beneficial owner of the purchase-money deed of trust, made a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S. C.A., asking the court to dismiss the petition. In support of its motion, appellee filed an affidavit signed by its vice president, who is also one of two substantial stockholders in the appellee company, setting forth that for various reasons appellee would not consent to any reorganization of the debtor. Appellant made a motion under Rule 12(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to strike the motion for summary judgment.
The District Court had a hearing on these motions, and found: (1) that no genuine issue as to any material fact before the court existed, and (2) that under Sec. 146 of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C.A. § 546, the petition was not filed in good faith. The motion of the Courtney Company for summary judgment dismissing the petition was granted; the petition for reorganization was dismissed; and the stay of foreclosure proceedings granted by...
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...which might be proposed, makes it unreasonable to expect any plan of reorganization would ever be effected. Leas v. Courtney Company, 261 F.2d 13 (4 Cir. 1958); Arey & Russell Lumber Company, Inc. v. American National Bank, 201 F.2d 508 (4th Cir. 1953); Janaf Shopping Center, Inc. v. Chase ......
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...proper analysis of equitable estoppel and the ADEA, a dispute about a "material fact" under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). See Leas v. Courtney Company, 261 F.2d 13, 15 (4th Cir.1958) (affirming summary judgment despite "vast disagreement" between parties on immaterial issues). The ADEA encourages pro......
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...Electric Co., 282 F.2d 481, 483-484 (6th Cir. 1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 812, 81 S.Ct. 692, 5 L.Ed.2d 691 (1961); Leas v. Courtney Co., 261 F.2d 13 (4th Cir. 1958); Koepfle v. Garavaglia, 200 F.2d 191, 192-193 (6th Cir. 1952); 10 C.A. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § ......
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