final decision

Issues

In this case, the Supreme Court must determine whether a bankruptcy court’s denial of a debtor’s Chapter 13 reorganization plan is “final” within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 158 and thus immediately appealable by a debtor. Petitioner Louis B. Bullard argues that his Chapter 13 plan’s denial was “final” and thus appealable because the denial amounted to a court’s adjudication of a discrete issue within the bankruptcy process. In contrast, looking at an entire bankruptcy case as a “single judicial unit,” Respondent Blue Hills Bank argues that Bullard’s plan was not final and thus not appealable because Bullard’s plan was denied with leave to amend. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case will implicate practical considerations within the bankruptcy process and the appropriate balance between the bargaining power of debtors and creditors. 

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Issues

On June 17, 2011, a federal district court issued a decision on a dispute between Ray Haluch Gravel Company and the Central Pension Fund (“CPF”). Although this order addressed the central issue of whether or not Haluch owed certain contributions to CPF, it did not address attorney’s fees and costs. The district court issued a second order on June 25, 2011 on attorney’s fees and costs. CPF filed an appeal on both orders, but the thirty day statute of limitations for notice of appeal had expired on the first order. The First Circuit accepted the appeal, stating that the first order was not a “final judgment” under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 because the contractual attorney’s fees decided in the second order were an issue on the merits, rendering the second order the final judgment. Haluch argues that under Budinich v. Becton Dickinson & Company, attorney’s fees should always be considered collateral to the merits, and a separate judgment on the merits should be considered final. CPF argues that Budinich applies only to statutory fees, which are considered costs, whereas contractual fees are considered damages and therefore part of the merits, rendering any judgment that does not resolve an issue concerning the merits—i.e., damages in the form of contractual fees—a non-final judgment. The Court’s decision will clarify what constitutes a “final judgment” and guide litigants seeking to make timely appeals.

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