Copiah County v. Oliver


<- Return to Search Results


Docket Number: 2009-IA-00809-SCT
Linked Case(s): 2009-IA-00809-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 09-30-2010
Opinion Author: Waller, C.J.
Holding: Affirmed and remanded.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Personal injury - Judicial estoppel - Chapter 13 debtor’s post-confirmation claims - Debtor's duty to disclose assets - 11 U.S.C. § 541
Judge(s) Concurring: Carlson, P.J., Dickinson, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ.
Dissenting Author : Randolph, J., Dissents With Separate Written Opinion.
Concurs in Result Only: Graves, P.J.
Procedural History: Summary Judgment; Interlocutory Appeal
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY; Interlocutory Appeal

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 04-15-2009
Appealed from: Copiah County Circuit Court
Judge: Lamar Pickard
Disposition: Nancy Oliver sued Copiah County for injuries she sustained when she fell down the steps of the Copiah County courthouse. The circuit court denied Copiah County’s motion for summary judgment based on judicial estoppel, even though Oliver did not amend her Chapter 13 bankruptcy schedule of assets to reflect the existence of her post-confirmation claim. The county brought this interlocutory appeal.
Case Number: 2007-0269

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: Copiah County, Mississippi




JOSEPH W. GILL, REBECCA B. COWAN



 
  • Appellant #1 Brief
  • Appellant #1 Reply Brief

  • Appellee: Nancy Oliver CURT CROWLEY  

    Synopsis provided by:

    If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
    hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office.

    Topic: Personal injury - Judicial estoppel - Chapter 13 debtor’s post-confirmation claims - Debtor's duty to disclose assets - 11 U.S.C. § 541

    Summary of the Facts: Nancy Oliver sued Copiah County for injuries she sustained when she fell down the steps of the Copiah County courthouse. The circuit court denied Copiah County’s motion for summary judgment based on judicial estoppel, even though Oliver did not amend her Chapter 13 bankruptcy schedule of assets to reflect the existence of her post-confirmation claim. The county brought this interlocutory appeal.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: The question presented in this appeal is whether Oliver should be judicially estopped from pursuing her personal-injury claim against Copiah County because she failed to amend her schedule of assets in the bankruptcy court to show the existence of the cause of action, even though the claim arose post-petition and post-confirmation. There are three requirements for judicial estoppel: the party is judicially estopped only if its position is clearly inconsistent with the previous one; the court must have accepted the previous position; and the nondisclosure must not have been inadvertent. A debtor’s duty to disclose assets begins with the filing of a petition for protection under the Bankruptcy Code. The duty to disclose is continuous and ongoing. But the debtor is required to disclose only those assets that are property of the bankruptcy estate, as defined in 11 U.S.C. § 541. There is no dispute that, had Oliver’s cause of action arisen prior to her bankruptcy’s commencement, she certainly would have been obligated to disclose it for inclusion in the estate. But whether a state-law tort claim arising post-confirmation is property of the estate is far from a clear question. No less than five approaches have been developed by the federal courts to determine the appropriate status for a Chapter 13 debtor’s post-confirmation claims. Neither the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit nor the Mississippi Supreme Court has addressed this conflict or adopted one of the approaches. Further, Oliver’s disclosure obligations were unclear, as they would have varied depending on the approach applied. However, the Court need not adopt either of the above approaches to decide the question presented but is concerned only with the collateral consequences of Oliver’s failure to disclose her claim, and especially with whether that failure should result in Oliver being estopped by the Court from continuing her suit against Copiah County on her undisclosed claim. Oliver’s failure to disclose her cause of action against Copiah County in her Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceeding – based on an honest belief that she had no duty to disclose it, supported by the substantial uncertainty in the law regarding that duty – should not bar her claim. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to apply judicial estoppel against Oliver.


    Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court