Kollinger v. Hoyle (In the Matter of Kollinger)
- Citation:
- No. 13-40512 (5th Cir. December 31, 2013).
- Tag(s):
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- Ruling:
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a bankruptcy appeal, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing an appeal after the appellant failed to file a brief for ten months after the appeal was docketed.
- Procedural context:
- The appeal arises from an adversary by Hoyle against the debtor, Kollinger. Judgment was entered in favor of Kollinger, and Hoyle timely appealed to the district court. The district court dismissed the appeal after appellant filed to file its briefing in the appeal. This appeal followed.
- Facts:
- This case involves no new or unusual issues of law, but serves as a cautionary tale to counsel in the modern era of electronic filing to ensure their contact information—including email addresses—remain current with the courts. Although appellant’s counsel properly filed and docketed his appeal in the district court, subsequent electronic notices, including notices of briefing deadlines, were sent to an old email address. Eventually, the district court’s judicial assistant contacted the parties and instructed them to file their briefs immediately, and was informed by appellant’s counsel that he would need three weeks to file a brief. Ten days later, the district court dismissed the appeal for want of prosecution. Also significant was the fact that the chapter 7 trustee in the underlying chapter 7 case was waiting for the outcome of the appeal before making distributions to creditors. In the circuit court’s view, the added delay from allowing the appeal to go forward at this point would prejudice the debtor’s other creditors, and thus undercut the appellant’s argument of excusable neglect.
- Judge(s):
- Wiener, Owen, and Haynes.
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