IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON 

REBECCA L. BROWN, 

Appellant, 

v. 

DARYL BUERGER; KAYLEEN BUERGER; 

BRUCE HINCHLIFFE; EUGENE 

PATTERSON, individually and as 

Trustee of the Eugene Patterson 

Trust; and KENNETH S. EILER, as 

Trustee of the Bankruptcy Estate 

of Christen M. Brown; 

Appellees, 

v. 

CHRISTEN MARC BROWN, 

Debtor. 

BRENT G. SUMMERS 

Tarlow Naito & Summers, LLP 

2501 S.W. First Avenue, Suite 390 

Portland, OR 97201 

(503) 688-1366 

1 - OPINION AND ORDER 

3:15-cv-00205-BR 

OPINION AND ORDER 

Case 3:15-cv-00205-BR Document 14 Filed 06/17/15 Page 1 of 5
SHAWN P. RYAN 

620 S.W. Main Street, Suite 612 

Portland, OR 97205 

(503) 417-0477 

Attorneys for Appellant 

JUSTIN D. LEONARD 

Leonard Law Group, LLC 

111 S.W. Columbia Street, Suite 1100 

Portland, OR 97201 

(971) 634-0190 

Attorneys for Appellees Daryl Buerger and 

Kayleen Buerger 

MICHAEL H. MCGEAN 

Francis, Hansen & Martin, LLP 

1148 N.W. Hill Street 

Bend, OR 97701 

(541) 389-5010 

BROWN, Judge. 

Attorneys for Appellees Bruce Hinchliffe and 

Eugene Patterson 

This matter comes before the Court on Appellant Rebecca L. 

Brown's appeal of the United States Bankruptcy Court's Order and 

Judgment enforcing a settlement agreement entered into between 

Appellant, Debtor Christen Marc Brown, and Appellees. 

This Court reviews the Bankruptcy Court's findings of fact 

for clear error and the legal conclusions de novo. See In re 

Mortgage Store, Inc., 773 F.3d 990, 994 (9th Cir. 2014). 

The parties are familiar with the factual background of this 

matter and, therefore, those facts wili not be repeated here. 

After a thorough review of the record, the Court does not 

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Case 3:15-cv-00205-BR Document 14 Filed 06/17/15 Page 2 of 5
find any clear error in the Bankruptcy Court's extensive and 

detailed factual findings. In addition, after reviewing the 

legal principles de novo, the Court does not find any error in 

the Bankruptcy Court's legal conclusions that the parties formed 

a settlement agreement; that the Statute of Frauds does not apply 

and, therefore, does not render the settlement agreement 

unenforceable; and that the settlement agreement is not 

unenforceable on the basis of mutual mistake or indefiniteness. 

Even if the Statute of Frauds governed the settlement 

agreement, this Court concludes Appellant would be estopped from 

invoking the Statute of Frauds as a defense to enforcement of the 

agreement on the basis of partial performance. Oregon courts 

have precluded parties from invoking the Statute of Frauds to 

def end against enforcement of a contract 

(1) if there is conduct corroborating and unequivocally 

referable to the oral agreement sufficient to satisfy 

the policy of the statute designed to minimize perjured 

claims and the opportunities for fraud, and (2) if 

there are equitable grounds for enforcing the contract 

whether those grounds are found in facts establishing 

the basis for a true estoppel or in facts justifying 

the avoidance of unjust enrichment or relief from 

fraud. 

Conklin v. Karban Rock, Inc., 94 Or. App. 593, 599 (1989) (quoting 

Luckey, et ux v. Deatsman, 217 Or. 628, 633 (1959). Here 

Appellant allowed the Bankruptcy Court and the other parties to 

the bankruptcy proceedings to persist in a reasonable belief that 

the parties had settled the bankruptcy proceedings for almost 

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Case 3:15-cv-00205-BR Document 14 Filed 06/17/15 Page 3 of 5
seven weeks after the time that Appellant asserts she desired to 

withdraw from the settlement agreement that she now repudiates. 

During that period, however, Appellant did not pursue the 

scheduled trial that was cancelled because of the parties' 

announced settlement agreement, and she continued to attempt to 

raise the same $550,000.00 that the Bankruptcy Judge found 

Appellant was required to pay under the settlement agreement. 

Also during that period, Appellees abandoned trial preparation 

and settled related matters with other parties on the basis of 

their reasonable belief in the existence of a settlement 

agreement. It is apparent that neither Appellant nor the 

Appellees would have taken any of these actions in the absence of 

the settlement agreement. 

Accordingly, on this record the Court concludes there is 

sufficient "conduct corroborating and unequivocally referable to 

the oral agreement sufficient to satisfy the policy of the 

statute designed to minimize perjured claims and the 

opportunities for fraud.n See Conklin, 94 Or. App. at 599. 

The Court also concludes there are "equitable grounds for 

enforcing the contractn because the other parties to the 

settlement agreement also settled related matters pending in 

state-court proceedings in reliance on the settlement agreement. 

See Conklin, 94 Or. App. at 599. In light of the fact that 

bankruptcy proceedings frequently involve the resolution of 

4 - OPINION AND ORDER 

Case 3:15-cv-00205-BR Document 14 Filed 06/17/15 Page 4 of 5
multiple debts that are often involved in multiple proceedings, 

the parties reasonably relied on Appellant's represented assent 

to the settlement agreement in their efforts to resolve all 

related matters. Moreover, there is a strong public policy in 

favor of resolving bankruptcy and related proceedings in an 

expeditious and comprehensive manner, and, therefore, the efforts 

of the parties to resolve all related matters quickly and in 

reasonable reliance on the settlement agreement render the 

enforcement of the contract to be. equitable. 

Accordingly, in the alternative, the Court holds partial 

performance and detrimental reliance estop Appellant from 

avoiding enforcement of the settlement agreement on the basis of 

the Statute of Frauds. 

CONCLUSION 

For these reasons, the Court AFFIRMS the Order and Judgment 

of the Bankruptcy Court. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED this 17th day of June, 2015. 

ANNA J. BROWN . 

United States District Judge 

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