Arnold, et al. v. Arnold (In re Arnold)

Summarized by Elizabeth Gunn , United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Columbia
9 years 11 months ago

Citation:

Arnold, et al. v. Arnold (In re Arnold), Case No. CO-15-031 (10th Cir. B.A.P. March 15, 2016) (unpublished)

Tag(s):

Ruling:

The bankruptcy court was not bound to apply Johnson v. Georgia Highway Express factors in awarding attorneys' fees based upon Colorado civil theft statute, not section 330. The facts and record supported a finding of reasonableness under the correct legal standard based upon Colorado law.

Procedural context:

Appeal from the bankruptcy court for the District of Colorado awarding attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to Colorado statute in underlying adversary proceeding.

Facts:

Debtor was found to have transferred certain patents assigned to appellees to a third party, prior to state court trial, the debtor filed chapter 11. In the chapter 11, the patents were determined to belong to plaintiffs. Subsequently, a trial was held on the appellee's adversary proceeding seeking denial of the debtor's discharge and declaration that certain debts were nondischargeable. Appellee also sought damages under the applicable Colorado state statute. The Debtor's discharge was denied and upheld on appeal, on remand the bankruptcy court held a hearing on two of the appellees' applications for attorneys' fees and costs. The third appellee was ordered to file an application, to which the Debtor objected. The bankruptcy court considered the application and approved the application as submitted.

Judge(s):

Karlin, Cornish, Michael

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