Pursuant to 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that thi s opinion should not * be publishe d and is not precedent except under the limited circu mstance s set forth in 5 T H C IR . R. 47.5 .4. 

### INTHE UNI TED S TATESCOU RT OFAPPEALS

FORTHEFIFTH CIRCU IT

N o. 08- 51075 Su m m ar y Cal endar

I n t h e M a t t e ro f: GREEN AGGREGAT ES I NC, a l s o k n o wn a s Ga r l a n dGAI Inc, D e b t o r

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- J N E L S O N H A P P Y , A p p ell a n t v. EQ UI T YB ANKS S B; P RE S I DE NT IALF I NANC IALC OR P ORAT I ON; C H IR O N E Q U IT IE S L L C , A pp el l ees

A p p ea lf

rom the U n i tedS tates B a n k ru p tcy C ou rt f ort he W es t er n D i st r i c tof Texas U SD C N o. 08- C V

- 550

B ef ore JO L LY , B E N AV ID E S , an d H AY N E S , C i rcui tJu dg es . P E R C U R IA M: * United States Court of App eals Fifth Circuit 

### F I L E D April28, 2009 Cha rl es R. F ulb ru g e II I ClerkN o. 08- 51075

2 J . N e ls o n H a p p y , pro se , ap p ea l s th e b a n k ru p tcyco u rt’ s ord er to sub st an t ivel y consol i da t e deb t or G reen A ggrega t es, Inc. w i th n o n - deb t or G a rl a n dG A I, In c. W e fi n dtha t t h e a p p ea li s eq u i tab l y m oo t. I. J. N el son H ap pyw as t h e sol e shareh ol der of G reen A ggre g a tes, I n c. (“ G reen” or“ D ebt or” )
. G r ee n oper at ed a l i m es t one quarr y i n C oo ke Coun t y, Tex as a nd t w o pa ve m e ntr e c yc l i ng pl ant s , o ne i n For t W o r t h a nd o ne i n Gar l and
. Af t e rf o urm o nt hs o f

he av y r ai nfalli n e ar l y 20 07 , G r e e n’ s q uar r y o pe r at i o ns cam e t o a ha l t
. O n Ju n e 6, G ree n r e ce ive d a noti ce of defau l tf

rom i t s l argest
c r e dit o r , Equi t y Bank. A tt h at t i m e, i tal so becam e app aren tt h at G reen soon w ou l d be evic t ed f r o m t he G ar l andpa ve m e ntrecycl i ng pr o pe r t y. H ap pyi nc o r po r at e d Gar l and G AI , I nc . (“ G AI ” ) t o a c quir e ano t he rl e as e ho l d, and GA I s ubs e que nt l y s i gne d a l ease agreem en tw i t h the C i t y of G arl an d. H ap pycontends that itw as necessary t o i n corporat e a separate entit yb e cau se G reen’ s s t rai n ed f i n an ci alcondit i on fr ig h te n e do f

f p o te n tia l le s s o r s . A p p e lle e s a s s e r t t h a t H a p p ye s s e n tia lly t ran sferred G reen’ s pavem en trec yc li ng o pe r ati o ns t oG AI
. H ap pyackn ow l edg es th a t th ere w a s som e op era ti on a lov erlap be tw ee n G ree n a n dG A I, bu t he ass erts th a t s e p a rat e books w ere m ai n t ai n ed an d that al lrevenu e an d exp en ses w ere ac c ur at e l y ap po r t i o ne d. G r e e n f i l e d a vo l unt ar y pe t i t i o n f o rb ank r upt c y o n Dec e m be r3 1, 2 00 7, a nd
a C h a p ter 1 1 tru stee w a s ap p oin tedon M a rch 31 , 20 0 8
. T h e tru stee e n tered i n to
an operati n g agreem en tw i t h C on gress M ater i al s, L L C , w h ereby C on gress M ater i al s m an aged t h e D ebtor ’ s con cerns. O n t h at s am e day , H ap pysol d allof hi s G A I sh a res t o SunsetR es our c es , I nc. Sunsetent er ed i nt o as i m i l ar m a n a g e m e n t a g r e e m e n t w ith C o n g r e s s M a te r ia ls re g a r d in gG A I. Soon t her eaf

t er , E qui ty B a n k f

i l ed a m ot i on r eques t i ng s ubst ant ive c ons oli dati on o f

G ree n an dG A I. S u b stan tive con soli d a ti on “t rea ts sep a r at e l egalN o. 08- 51075

3 ent i t i es as if

t hey w er e m er ged i nt o as i ngl e s urvivor l ef t w i t h al l t he c um ul at ive as s e t s a nd li ab i l i t i e s ( s av e f o ri nt e r - e nt i t y l i ab i l i t i e s , w hi c h a r e e r as e d)
. The
r e s u l t i s t h a t c l a i ms o f c r e d i t o r s a g a i n s t s e p a r a t e d e b t o r s mo r p h t o c l a i ms a ga i n st t h e con soli d a tedsu rv ivo r. ” I n reO w e nsCor ni ng , 419 F. 3d 195, 205 ( 3d Ci r . 2 00 5)
. Equi t y Bank a r gue d t hat di s e nt angl i ng G r e e n andG AI ’ s a s s e t s and l i abili t i es w ou l d be p rohibi t ivel y di f f i cul t
. E qu i t y B an k als o describeda nu m ber
o f q ue s t i o nab l e t r ans ac t i o ns b e t w e e n t he t w o c o m pa ni e s . O n Apr i l2 1, 2 00 8, t he
c o u r t g r a n te dth e m o tio n a n ds u b s ta n tiv e lyco n s o lid a te dG r e e n a n dG A I. I n O c t obe r , t hi s c our tgrant ed H appy’ s pet i t i on toappealpurs uant t o 2 8 U
. S
. C
. § 158(d)

. H ap py , how ever, di d n otobtai n a st ay of t h e ban kru ptcy c ou rt proceedi n gs. Si n ce th e f i l i n g of t h i s app eal , a pl an of reor g an i zati on ha s been p r o p o s e d , a n dth e b a n k r u p tc yco u r t c o n fir m e dth e p la n o n D e c e m b e r3 1
. II. A s ath r e s h o ldm a tt e r , w e m u s t d e te r m in e w h e th e rth is a p p e a l is
e q u ita b lym o o t. “T h e d o c tr in e o f e q u ita b le m o o tn e s s s h o u ldb e a n d o fte n is ap pl i ed to f

orest al lban kru ptcy app eal s f rom conf

i rm ed b a n kru ptcy pl an s, becau se t h e app el l ate c ou rt s r ecognize t h at th ere i s a poi n tbeyon d w h i ch they
c annot or der f

und am ent al c hanges i n r eo r gani zat i on c as es . ” In reHi lal , 534 F. 3d 498, 500 ( 5t h C i r . 2008) (i nt er nalquot at i on m ar ks om i t t ed)
. Thi s c our thas d ev elop eda th ree -pa rt t est for de term i n i n g w h en an a p p ea l i s eq u i tab l y m oo t. Id
. “ [W e] exam i n e[] w h et h er ( 1) a stay h as b een obtai n ed, ( 2) t h e pl an ha s been
s ubs t ant i all y c o ns um m at e d, and ( 3) t he r e l i e f r e que s t e d woul d a f

fe c te i t he rt he ri gh ts of p a rti es n ot be fore th e cou rt or the su cces s of t h e p l a n . ” I n r eGW I P CS 1 Inc. , 2 3 0 F .3 d7 8 8 , 8 0 0 (5 th C ir . 2 0 0 0 ). In t hi s c as e , fac t o r s o ne and t hr e e pl ai nl y c o uns e l i n fav o r o f m oot n ess. H ap pyha s fai l ed to obtai n a stay t o p revent t h e executi on of t h e reor gan i zati on pl an. M or eo ver , t he r eli ef H appy r eques t s, rev ersa lof t he s ubst ant ive con soli d a ti on o r der , w oul d f oilt he s ucc es s of

t he pl an. The pl an c onf i r m ed byN o. 08- 51075

4 t he bankr upt c y c our tc oul d notgo f or w ar d and t he i m pl em ent at i on o f t he pl an w o u ldh a v e to b e u n d o n e . The s e c o nd fac t o r , w he t he r t he pl an has b e e n s ubs t ant i all y c o ns um m at e d, al so w ei gh s heav i l y i n favor of dism i ssalon equ i t able m oot n ess groun ds.

“ Subs t ant i all y c o ns um m at e d” i s de f i ne d i n t he b ank r upt c y c o de t o m e an: (A) t r ans fe r o f all o rs ubs t ant i all y allo f t he pr o pe r t y pr o po s e d b y t he pl an t o b e t r ans fe r r e d; ( B ) assum pti on by the deb t or or by t h e successor t o th e debtor u n der th e p la n o f th e b u s in e s s o ro f th e m a n a g e m e n t o f a ll o rs u b s ta n tia lly allo f t he pr o pe r t y de altw i t h b y t he pl an; a nd ( C) c o m m e nc e m e nto f di s t r ibut i o n und e rt he pl an. 11 U
. S. C
. § 1101( 2)
. I n t hi s c as e, the ef fec t ive dat e of

the pl an w as January10, 2009. O n t hatday, t he D ebt or ’ s ol d equit y w as ex t i ngui she d and new eq ui t y w as i s s ue d t o Cong r e s s M at e r i al s , LLC
. Thatda y al s o m ar ke d t he c o m m e nc e m e nt of al lpl an di st ribu t i on s. Th u s, a ccordi n g t o t h e above d ef i n i t i on , t h e pl an of
r e o r ga ni z at i o n ha s b e e n s ubs t ant i all y c o ns um m at e d. II I.

“ [T ] h ere i s a poi n tbeyon d w h i ch [ ap pel l ate c ou rt s] cann otorder fun d a m en tal cha n ge s i n r eo rg a n i za ti on action s. ” In reManges , 29 F. 3d 1034, 1039 ( 5t h C i r . 1994)
. Regar di ng t he i ss ues r a i sed b y H appy, t hi s c as e has
rea ch edtha t po i n t; “ef fective j u d i ci a lreli ef i s n o lon ge r av a i l a b l e.” I d. A c c o r d in g ly , th e a p p e a l is DI S M I S S ED
.