Bankr. No.:
01-10280
Chapter:
7
Date of Decision:
February 7, 2002
Issue:
(1) Whether trustee’s withdrawal of a motion to approve a settlement was appropriately approved by the Court? (2) Whether creditor should be granted relief from the automatic stay to pursue statutory costs and disbursements from the state court arising from a pre-trial, but post-petition, offer of judgment that was refused by the debtor?
Ruling:
(1) The Trustee’s withdrawal of his motion to approve a settlement was appropriately approved by the Court. No party in interest has filed a response to the Trustee’s motion. Thus, under Fed.R.Bankr.P. 7042, Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a), and Fed.R.Bankr.P. 9014, the Trustee was free to withdraw the motion. (2) The creditor was not granted relief from the stay because the continued litigation would not produce any tangible result. The bankruptcy estate, not the debtor, controlled the state court lawsuit at the time the offer of judgment was refused. Thus, any claim for costs and disbursements would not become a post-petition claim against the debtor, but could be a claim against the bankruptcy estate, which did not have any assets to pay any claims.
Full Bankruptcy Court Decision:
