Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-88-01092/USCOURTS-ca10-88-01092-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 422
Nature of Suit: Bankruptcy Appeals Rule 28 USC 158
Cause of Action: 

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PUBLISH 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

GARY DEAN HOLMES, CAROLYN SUE HOLMES 

doing business as Holmes Welding, 

Debtors-Appellants, 

FI LED 

Uoited States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Cirn,it 

AUG 7 1989 

ROBERT L. I-IOECKER 

Clerk 

v. 

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No. 88-1092 

SILVER WINGS AVIATION, INC., 

Creditor-Appellee. 

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF WYOMING 

(D.C. No. 87-0196J) 

Submitted on the briefs: 

Georg Jensen, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Debtors-Appellants. 

Ronald E. Brodowicz, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Debra Hecox, 

Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Creditor-Appellee. 

Before McKAY, TACHA, and EBEL, Circuit Judges 

McKAY, Circuit Judge. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

Appellate Case: 88-1092 Document: 01019831269 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 1 
assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. 

The debtor-appellants Gary and Carolyn Holmes appeal from the 

order of the district court entered on February 11, 1987, which 

affirmed the decision of the bankruptcy court to award the 

creditor-appellee Silver Wings Aviation, Inc. attorney's fees as 

an administrative expense. Because we have determined that the 

Holmeses lack standing to appeal this matter, we dismiss this 

appeal. 

The Holmeses originally filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in the United.States Bankruptcy Court for· the District of 

Wyoming on March 6, 1986. Silver Wings objected to the confirmation of the Holmeses' Chapter l3_plan on the groun~s that the 

Holmeses undervalued their assets and understated their income. 

Silver Wings' objection led to the discovery of undisclosed assets 

and income. As a result of this discovery, the debtors filed an 

amended Chapter 13 plan on November 25, 1986, and therein agreed 

to increase their payments to unsecured creditors from a twenty 

percent to a seventy percent payout. Silver Wings moved for the 

award of attorney's fees as an administrative expense pursuant to 

11 u.s.c. § 503(b)(3). The bankruptcy court awarded to Silver 

Wings $750.00 in attorney's fees by an order entered on March 19, 

1987. However, the bankruptcy court awarded the fees as a sanction against the Holmeses that had to be paid before the court 

would confirm the Holmeses Chapter 13 plan. The Holmeses appealed 

to the district court from this order on March 30, 1987. While 

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Appellate Case: 88-1092 Document: 01019831269 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 2 
the appeal was pending, the Holmeses attempted to pay their creditors in accordance with the seventy percent payout arrangement of 

the proposed plan. They failed to maintain payments under the 

amended plan, and the bankruptcy court dismissed the Holmeses 

Chapter 13 case for this failure by an order dated June 11, 1987, 

and ultimately entered on July 14, 1987. 

The Holmeses filed a new Chapter 13 case on June 22, 1987, in 

which they proposed to make a forty percent payout to their creditors. The bankruptcy court decided to treat this new case as a 

continuation of the original case. On July 21, 1987, in denying 

Silver Wings motion to dismiss the new case, the bankruptcy court 

retained the award of attorney's fees in favor of Silver Wings but 

treated the award as an administrative expense. On December 11, 

1987, the district court entered an order affirming the bankruptcy 

court's award of the attorney's fees as an administrative expense. 

The Holmeses new Chapter 13 plan was eventually confirmed. 

The presently applicable Bankruptcy Code of 1978, 11 u.s.c. 

§ 101 et ~' does not contain any express limitation on appellate standing. However, a number of courts have held that the 

former rule of appellate standing embodied in§ 39(c) of the 

Bankruptcy Act of 1898, 11 u.s.c. § 67(c) (repealed 1978), is 

still applicable to all appeals from proceedings in the bankruptcy 

courts. See Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp., 843 F.2d 636, 641-42 

(2d Cir. 1988); In re El San Juan Hotel, 809 F.2d 151, 154 (1st 

Cir. 1987); In re Sweetwater, 57 B.R. 743, 746 (D. Utah 1985). 

Under this standard, the right to appellate review is limited to 

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Appellate Case: 88-1092 Document: 01019831269 Date Filed: 08/07/1989 Page: 3 
"persons aggrieved", i.e., to those persons whose rights or interests are "directly and adversely affected pecuniarily" by the 

decree or order of the bankruptcy court. See id.; In re 

Cosmopolitan Aviation Corp., 763 F.2d 507, 513 (2d Cir.), cert. 

denied, 474 U.S. 1032 (1985); In re Fondiller, 707 F.2d 441, 

442-43 (9th Cir. 1983). "These decisions reflect the understandable concern that if appellate jurisdiction is not limited, bankruptcy litigation will become mired in endless appeals brought by 

a myriad of parties who are indirectly affected by every bankruptcy court order." Kane, 843 F.2d at 642. We concur with this 

reasoning and hereby join the aforementioned courts in adopting 

the "person aggrieved" standard. 

The Holmeses are not persons aggrieved by the bankruptcy 

court's decision to award Silver Wings attorney's fees as an 

administrative expense. The Holmeses' Chapter 13 plan has been 

confirmed. Silver Wings informs this court that the total amount 

to be paid by the Holmeses under the latest plan is $13,050.00. 

After having had the opportunity to respond to this contention, 

the Holmeses do not dispute this fact. Inasmuch as the Holmeses 

have agreed to a payout totalling $13,050.00, they make no effective argument as to how they can be aggrieved by its allocation 

among the payees. They are, apparently, not liable for any further payout. Thus, since they are not directly and adversely 

affected pecuniarily beyond the extent to which they have already 

agreed, they have no standing to contest the award of attorney's 

fees at issue here. 

This appeal is DISMISSED. The mandate shall issue forthwith. 

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