Pinpoint IT Services, LLC v. Rivera (In re Atlas IT Export Corp.)

Summarized by David Baker , Law Office of David G. Baker
11 years 6 months ago

Citation:

Court of Appeals No. 13-9003

Tag(s):

Ruling:

Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, one judge dissenting.

Procedural context:

This is an appeal from denial of a motion for relief from stay in order to continue state court litigation.

Facts:

Debtor Atlas was embroiled in apparently hostile litigation in both Virginia and Puerto Rico with Pinpoint. Rivera is the chapter 7 trustee of Atlas. Atlas and Rivera requested that the bankruptcy court grant stay relief so that the action in Puerto Rico could go forward to judgment; Pinpoint then requested the same relief as to the Virginia action, but that was denied. Pinpoint appealed to the BAP, which dismissed for lack of jurisdiction since denial of stay relief is not a final order. After substantial discussion of the "first-to-file" rule, the Court of Appeals agreed with the BAP and dismissed. The court distinguished the automatic stay from an injunction because the automatic stay does not require reasoned consideration by a judge, whereas an injunction does. It also held that where, as here, denial of a stay relief motion is not based on a full and final resolution of all of the related issues, particularly the "first-to-file" rule. In dissent, Judge Kayatta did not disagree that the appellant provided no basis for reversing the bankruptcy court's decision not to lift the stay. However, he would reach the merits and affirm because the majority's decision creates a circuit split on the issue.

Judge(s):

Thompson (author) and Lipez, majority; Kayatta dissenting

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