Partial Summary Judgment Was Appropriate Where Chapter 7 Trustee Filed Preference And Fraudulent Transfer Claims After Statute Of Limitations Ran, And Where Trustee Merely Recited Fraudulent Transfer Statute, But Alleged No Facts In Support Of Claims

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Morris James Delaware

Burtch v. Dent, (In re Circle Y of Yoakum, Tx.), 354 B.R. 349 (Bankr. D. Del. 2006) (Judge Mary F. Walrath)

The Chapter 7 Trustee of debtor Circle Y’s estate asserted claims under sections 547 and 548 of the Bankruptcy Code relating to payments made to an insider more than one year before the petition date. The Bankruptcy Court held that those claims were time-barred. Also, because the Trustee’s fraudulent transfer claims pled no facts in support of the Trustee’s allegations, but merely recited relevant statutory language, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed those claims for failure to plead fraud with sufficient particularity. However, the Court granted the Chapter 7 Trustee leave to amend to add additional payments where those payments were part of a discernible pattern with payments alleged in the Trustee’s original complaint.

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Entry Of Final Judgment Denied Where Summary Judgment Only Granted Partial Relief

Posted on November 28, 2006 by Morris James Delaware

Fluor Enters. Corp. v. Orion Refining Corp. (In re Orion Refining Corp.), 355 B.R. 433 (Bankr. D. Del. 2006) (Judge Mary F. Walrath)

The Court granted summary judgment as to two counts of a four count complaint. Because each count sought relief under a common set of operative facts, the Court did not exercise its discretion to enter final judgment on each of the two counts as to which it entered summary judgment.

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In Calculating a Guarantor's Liability, the State Law Applicable to the Guaranty, Rather than the Law Applicable to the Underlying Loan Agreements, Governs

Posted on November 15, 2006 by Morris James Delaware

In re Stone & Webster, Inc., 354 B.R. 686 (D. Del. 2006) (Judge Sue L. Robinson)

This was a case of contract interpretation and choice of law issues, in connection with a determination of damages owed by a guarantor to a lender. The lender argued that the law to be applied was the Bankruptcy Code and Delaware law, because of the venue of the case; the guarantor argued in favor of the Saudi Arabian law selected in the underlying credit agreement. The court found that New York law, the law chosen in the guaranty, applied.

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