Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02179/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02179-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Not Party
Lear Petroleum Corporation
Appellee
Lear Petroleum Exploration, Inc.
Appellee
Southwestern Drilling
Appellant

Document Text:

FILED 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

United Stat.es Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

FEB 2 91988 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk SOUTHWESTERN DRILLING, ) 

) 

Plaintiff-Appellant, ) 

) 

and ) 

) 

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION, ) 

by and through its Administrator, ) 

Continental Illinois National Bank ) 

and Trust Company of Chicago, ) 

) 

• Plaintiff, ) 

) 

V • ) 

) 

LEAR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, INC.; ) 

LEAR PETROLEUM CORPORATION, ) 

) 

Defendants-Appellees. ) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT 

No. 87-2179 

(D.C. No. 83-925-R) 

( W. D. Ok la . ) 

Before MOORE and TACHA, Circuit Judges, and BRIMMER, Chief Judge.* 

*Honorable Clarence A. 

District Court for 

designation. 

Brimmer, Chief Judge, United States 

the District of Wyoming, sitting by 

After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this 

panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not 

materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. 

R. App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.8. The cause is therefore 

ordered submitted without oral argument. 

Appellate Case: 87-2179 Document: 010110028295 Date Filed: 02/29/1988 Page: 1 
/,' 

~ 

' 

Southwestern Drilling (Southwestern) entered into a drilling 

contract with Lear Petroleum Exploration, Inc. (Lear). 

Southwestern gave Penn Square Bank (Bank) a security interest in 

that drilling contract. The Bank failed and the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed receiver . 

Southwestern commenced this action against Lear for allegedly 

breaching the drilling contract. While this litigation was 

pending, Southwestern initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. 

Southwestern then petitioned the bankruptcy court to allow it to 

abandon the drilling contract and this litigation. 

The bankruptcy court ordered that 

. the Debtor [Southwestern] is hereby directed to 

abandon, and is hereby deemed to have abandoned, all 

claims, rights, and causes of action arising from the 

Drilling Contract between the Debtor and Lear described 

above, including the Lear Litigation, to Continental 

[Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company] 

as Administrator for the FDIC, without limiting, 

enlarging, or creating any rights, claims or causes of 

action by, against, or among any of the parties hereto 

or persons to whom notice and opportunity for hearing 

were provided. From and after the entry of this order , 

Continental shall be entitled to pursue the Lear 

Litigation in the name of the Debtor or as it may 

otherwise deem appropriate. 

Continental, as administrator for the FDIC, pursued this 

litigation. A jury trial was held, with verdicts being returned 

in favor of the defendants on all counts. Judgment was entered by 

the district court on June 2, 1987. Southwestern filed a notice 

of appeal from the entry of the judgment on July 31, 1987. 

Neither Continental nor the FDIC filed a notice of appeal nor do 

they join in this appeal. Lear filed a motion to dismiss this 

appeal. 

2 

Appellate Case: 87-2179 Document: 010110028295 Date Filed: 02/29/1988 Page: 2 
, 

✓· • "' 

The question presented is whether Southwestern has standing 

to appeal from the district court's entry of judgment. 

Generally, only a party aggrieved by a district court's order 

or judgment may appeal from that order or judgment. Deposit Guar. 

Nat'l Bank v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326, 333 (1980); In re Vargas, 723 

F.2d 1461, 1464 (10th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 819 

(1984). Because Southwestern abandoned this litigation and all of 

its "claims, rights, and causes of action arising from the 

Drilling Contract," Southwestern cannot be aggrieved by the 

district court's entry of judgment in favor of Lear. Southwestern 

argues that it may be affected by the district court's order and 

judgment in future litigation with its investors. This asserted 

interest in the order and judgment of the district court is too 

speculative and remote to enable Southwestern to appeal from that 

judgment. 

The appeal from the judgment of the United States District 

Court for the Western District of Oklahoma is DISMISSED. 

The mandate shall issue forthwith. 

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

PER CURIAM 

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Appellate Case: 87-2179 Document: 010110028295 Date Filed: 02/29/1988 Page: 3