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REBECCA J. WINTHROP (CA Bar No. 116386)

ROBIN BALL (CA Bar No. 159698)

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP

555 South Flower Street, Forty-First Floor

Los Angeles, California 90071

Telephone: (213) 892-9200

Facsimile: (213) 892-9494

rebecca.winthrop@nortonrosefulbright.com

robin.ball@nortonrosefulbright.com

Attorneys for Creditors ADVENTIST HEALTH 

SYSTEM/WEST and FEATHER RIVER 

HOSPITAL D/B/A ADVENTIST HEALTH 

FEATHER RIVER

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re:

PG&E CORPORATION,

- and -

PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC 

COMPANY

Debtors.

Case No. 19 - 30088 (DM)

Chapter 11

(Lead Case)

(Jointly Administered)

THE ADVENTIST CLAIMANTS’

OBJECTION TO THE NOTICE OF 

DEBTORS’ DESIGNATION OF CLAIMS 

FILED BY THE UNITED STATES OF 

AMERICA, THE STATE OF 

CALIFORNIA AND ADVENTIST 

HEALTH SYSTEM AS UNLIQUIDATED 

AND SUBJECT TO ESTIMATION 

UNDER SECTION 502(c) OF THE 

BANKRUPTCY CODE [DE # 4553]

 Affects PG&E Corporation

 Affects Pacific Gas and Electric 

Company

 Affects both Debtors

* All papers shall be filed in the Lead Case, 

No. 19-30088 (DM).

Hearing Date and Time:

Date: December 17, 2019

Time: 10:00 a.m. (Pacific Time)

Place: Courtroom 17

 450 Golden Gate Ave., 16th Floor

 San Francisco, CA 94102

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Creditors Adventist Health System/West, a California religious non-profit corporation 

(“Adventist Health”), and Feather River Hospital, a California religious non-profit corporation, 

d/b/a Adventist Health Feather River (“AHFR” and, collectively with Adventist Health,

“Adventist”), hereby file this objection (the “Objection”) to the Debtors’ Notice of Debtors’ 

Designation of Claims Filed by the United States of America, the State of California and Adventist 

Health System as Unliquidated and Subject to Estimation Under Section 502(c) of the Bankruptcy 

Code (the “Designation of Claims”) [ECF No. 4553].

Dated: November 15, 2019 REBECCA J. WINTHROP

ROBIN BALL

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP

By: /s/ Rebecca J. Winthrop

REBECCA J. WINTHROP

Attorney for Creditors ADVENTIST 

HEALTH SYSTEM/WEST and 

FEATHER RIVER HOSPITAL D/B/A 

ADVENTIST HEALTH FEATHER 

RIVER

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1

II. LIQUIDATED CLAIMS SUBJECT TO ADVENTIST’S OBJECTION .......................... 2

A. Costs to Clean Up, Secure, Repair, and Remediate Facilities (To Date)................ 3

B. Loss of Inventory/Equipment/Contents of AHFR Locations.................................. 4

C. System-Wide Charges That Cannot Be Avoided.................................................... 4

D. Operating Losses and Lost Profits Already Incurred.............................................. 4

E. Other Miscellaneous Damages................................................................................ 5

1. Professional Fees and Expenses.................................................................. 5

2. Miscellaneous Out-of-Pocket Expenses...................................................... 5

3. Additional Employee Health Plan Costs..................................................... 5

4. Assistance to Camp Fire Assistance Fund .................................................. 6

5. Unemployment Insurance Claims............................................................... 6

6. Impact on Insurance Premiums and Coverage............................................ 6

III. ARGUMENT...................................................................................................................... 6

A. Applicable Legal Standards.................................................................................... 6

B. Adventist Objects to Debtors’ Designation of Its Entire Claim as 

“Unliquidated” and Subject to Section 502(c) Estimation...................................... 8

IV. CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 10

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)

Cases

In re Audre, Inc., 202 B.R. 490 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996) ........................................................................................6

Barcal v. Laughlin (In re Barcal), 213 B.R. 1008 (8th Cir. BAP 1997)............................................................................................7

In re Enriquez, 315 B.R. 112 (Bankr. N.D. Cal. 2004)........................................................................................9

FDIC v. Wenberg (In re Wenberg), 94 B.R. 631 (9th Cir. BAP 1988), aff’d, 902 F.2d 768 (9th Cir. 1990)..............................7, 8, 9

Fostvedt v. Dow (In re Fostvedt), 823 F.2d 305 (9th Cir. 1987).......................................................................................................6

Loya v. Rapp (In re Loya), 123 B.R. 338 (9th Cir. BAP 1991)..............................................................................................7

Mazzeo v. United States (In re Mazzeo), 131 F.3d 295 (2d Cir. 1997)........................................................................................................7

In re Pearson, 773 F.2d 751 (6th Cir. 1985).......................................................................................................8

In re Ristic,

142 B.R. 856 (Bankr. E.D. Wisc. 1992) .................................................................................8, 9

Scovis v. Henrichsen (In re Scovis),

249 F.3d 975 (9th Cir. 2001).......................................................................................................8

Slack v. Wilshire Ins. Co. (In re Slack),

187 F.3d 1070 (9th Cir. 1999).............................................................................................6, 7, 8

In re Smith,

325 B.R. 498 (Bankr. D.N.H. 2005) ...........................................................................................8

Rules and Statutes

11 U.S.C. § 502(c) ..............................................................................................................1, 6, 8, 10

11 U.S.C. § 109(e) ........................................................................................................................8, 9

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I. INTRODUCTION

Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system headquartered in 

Roseville, California. AHFR is part of the Adventist Health hospital system. Prior to the Camp 

Fire, AFHR had extensive operations in Paradise, California, including its Feather River Hospital, 

which was a 100-bed acute care, community hospital in Paradise, California. The hospital was then 

the largest employer in Paradise, with in excess of 1200 employees. The Camp Fire devastated the 

main campus of that hospital, rendering it incapable of operation since then, and also severely

damaged several other AFHR facilities in Paradise. 

Last month, Adventist went to great effort to submit a detailed Proof of Claim in these 

bankruptcy cases that itemized losses from the Camp Fire totaling well over half a billion dollars. 

In response, Debtors’ Designation of Claims takes a one-size-fits-all approach, asserting that every 

penny of Adventists’ claim is unliquidated and subject to estimation under Section 502(c). This 

approach cannot be squared with either the law of this Circuit or Adventist’s detailed Proof of 

Claim. 

As set forth below, Adventist objects to any attempt by Debtors to designate certain losses

or expenses that Adventist has already incurred (which total $142,888,153) as unliquidated. 

Adventist tallied each component of that amount down to the dollar, mindful of this Court’s 

direction that “[w]hen a claimant state’s what it’s owed, that is the liquidation of the claim,” and

“if [the claimant’s] got a claim down to the penny, it can be disputed, but it’s liquidated.” Aug. 27, 

2019 Hearing Tr. at 118:16-17, 127:7-9 (ECF No. 13-5) (the “Aug. 27 Tr.”). 

Adventist does not object to the lion’s share of its claim—projected future losses and 

expenses, including hundreds of millions of dollars for future rebuilding of facilities damaged or 

destroyed by the Camp Fire and projected future lost profits and operating losses—being subject to 

estimation under Section 502(c) of the Bankruptcy Code.

1

 But the $142,888,153 in out-of-pocket 

expenses and other losses identified in Table 1 on page 3 below (the “Liquidated Amount”) –

 1

 Adventist also does not object to the inclusion of its claim for punitive damages in the estimation proceeding. 

While Adventist does not object to the inclusion of certain portions of its Proof of Claim (other than the Liquidated 

Amount) in the estimation proceedings pursuant to Section 502(c), it otherwise reserves all rights with respect to 

those portions of its Proof of Claim, including with respect to their treatment in the estimation proceedings and with 

respect to the allowance or disallowance of any portion thereof. 

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expenses and losses that Adventist had already incurred when it filed its claim – should not be 

subject to estimation as part of the proceedings now before Judge Donato. 

These incurred expenses are not the sort of non-economic damages that typically are 

suffered by an individual wildfire tort claimant (e.g., pain and suffering and emotional distress) and 

then liquidated by a factfinder after a trial. To the contrary, the Liquidated Amount consists entirely

of out-of-pocket expenses (e.g., facility remediation and repair costs, professional fees, employee 

health plan costs, unemployment insurance claims), historical (already incurred) lost profits and 

operating losses, and losses of equipment and supplies damaged or destroyed by the fire. All of 

these categories of expenses/losses meet the Ninth Circuit’s definition of “liquidated” because they 

are, as this Court explained, “readily ascertainable as a sum certain” (Aug. 27 Tr. at 118:7-8),

including from Adventist’s records (e.g., invoices and expense records, financial statements), and 

can be fixed without an overly complex hearing (or any hearing). Indeed, Adventist has calculated

those expenses “down to the penny” and “state[d] what it’s owed.” Aug. 27 Tr. at 118:16-17, 

126:20-22. For these reasons the Liquidated Amount should not be included in Judge Donato’s 

estimation proceeding. 

II. LIQUIDATED CLAIMS SUBJECT TO ADVENTIST’S OBJECTION

On October 18, 2019, Adventist filed identical proofs of Claim against each of Debtors

PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which have been assigned Claim Nos. 

59459 (against PG&E Corporation) and 59996 (against Pacific Gas and Electric Company),

respectively (together, the “Proof of Claim”). A copy of Claim No. 59459 is attached hereto as 

Exhibit 1 for the Court’s convenience and reference. The Proof of Claim asserts a claim against 

Debtors for $1,012,061,204 that includes a total of $506,030,602 in itemized damages, an equal 

amount of punitive damages, and a few additional categories of damages in amounts to be 

determined. The Proof of Claim sets forth an itemized table of damages in Addendum “B” thereto. 

See Ex. 1 at Addendum B.

Adventist objects to Debtors’ Designation of Claims to the extent that it purports to treat as 

“unliquidated” $142,888,153 in claims (the “Liquidated Amount”), a subset of the damages 

Adventist has asserted. In Table 1 below, Adventist excerpts from Addendum “B” to the Proof of 

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Claim those loss/expense categories that are liquidated and thus do not belong in any estimation 

proceeding:

TABLE 1

Liquidated Loss/Expense Category Amount

Costs to Clean-Up, Secure, Repair and Remediate Facilities After 

Fire (To Date):

 Clean-up, immediate repairs and securing sites $ 3,198,557

 Construction and further repairs completed to date $ 3,449,136

Loss of Inventory/Equipment/Contents of AHFR Locations $ 14,433,149

Operating Losses and Lost Profits Already Incurred:

 Loss of surplus (profit) (11/8/18 to 10/31/19) $ 16,223,272

 Operating losses (11/8/18 to 10/31/19) $ 39,868,262

System-Wide Charges That Cannot Be Avoided 

(11/8/18 to 10/31/19)

$ 25,463,291

Other Miscellaneous Damages:

 Professional fees and expenses as of October 16, 2019 

(attorneys, consultants and other professionals)

$ 1,210,412

 Miscellaneous Out-of-Pocket Expenses $ 337,239

 Additional employee health plan costs (11/8/18 to 10/31/19) $ 824,453

 Assistance to Camp Fire Assistance Fund (for employees) $ 500,000

 Unemployment insurance claims (2/6/19 to 9/16/19) $ 1,215,722

 Impact on insurance premiums and coverage on policy from 

10/1/19 to 9/30/20

$ 36,164,660

Total $142,888,153

As further described below and in Adventist’s Proof of Claim, each category of 

expenses/losses set forth in Table 1 is a historical (already incurred) expense or loss that has been 

quantified by Adventist down to the dollar:

A. Costs to Clean Up, Secure, Repair, and Remediate Facilities (To Date)

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

expenses totaling $6,647,693 ($3,198,557 + $3,449,136) for labor and materials for remediation 

and repair activities at the main campus of AHFR’s Feather River Hospital (the “Main Hospital 

Campus”) and other facilities maintained by Adventist in the town of Paradise. As further described 

in the Proof of Claim, such activities included temporary repairs to mitigate further damage (e.g., 

roof patches, septic system patches, and segregating the seriously damaged upper hospital from the 

essentially destroyed lower hospital), smoke remediation, debris removal, disposing of medical 

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biohazards (e.g., medications, sharp containers) and perishables, erosion control, supplying 

compressed gas for generators and potable drinking water, and installing and monitoring fencing 

and a security station. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” pp. 4-5, and Addendum “B.”

This loss/expense category does not include any of at least $110,622,586 in losses/expenses

to Adventist for future repair, rebuilding, or replacement of facilities damaged or destroyed by the 

Camp Fire. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “B.”

B. Loss of Inventory/Equipment/Contents of AHFR Locations

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

expenses/lossestotaling $14,433,149 for the loss of medical equipment, medical supplies, furniture, 

office equipment, and maintenance equipment and supplies that were destroyed or damaged within 

the Main Hospital Campus or other facilities maintained by Adventist in the town of Paradise. See

Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” pp. 4-5, and Addendum “B.”

C. System-Wide Charges That Cannot Be Avoided

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist Health 

incurred expenses/losses totaling $25,463,291 for existing system-wide obligations (e.g., pursuant 

to existing contracts for the system-wide billing and claims services) that, but for the Camp Fire, 

would have been reimbursed by AHFR. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 3, and Addendum “B.”

This expense/loss category does not include any of the at least $99,386,397 in future losses 

for system-wide obligations that will remain unreimbursed by AHFR and thus will be suffered by 

Adventist Health as a result of the Camp Fire. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “B.”

D. Operating Losses and Lost Profits Already Incurred

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

expenses/losses totaling $56,091,534 from the loss of their business operations at the Main Hospital 

Campus and each of AHFR’s other locations. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 3, and 

Addendum “B.” Those expenses/losses are comprised of already incurred operating losses 

($39,868,262) and lost profits ($16,223,272). Id.

This loss/expense category does not include any of the at least $132,033,173 in future 

operating losses and future loss of profits that Adventist will suffer as a result of the Camp Fire. 

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See Ex. 1 at Addendum “B.”

E. Other Miscellaneous Damages

This loss/expense category includes a total of $40,252,486 in expenses/losses incurred by 

Adventist, and comprises the following:

1. Professional Fees and Expenses

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

expenses/losses totaling $1,210,412 for fees and expenses for professional services, principally 

counsel (including health care regulatory counsel), as well as other professionals such as consulting 

engineers, necessitated by the Camp Fire. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 6, and Addendum “B.”

2. Miscellaneous Out-of-Pocket Expenses

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

expenses/losses totaling $337,239 for different types of miscellaneous out-of-pocket expenses 

necessitated by the Camp Fire, including additional labor (such as temporary workers staffing a 

call center handling fire-related calls, e.g., about patients who had to be relocated or whose care 

had been disrupted) and storage costs (storing equipment and supplies that could no longer be 

maintained or stored in facilities damaged or destroyed by the fire). See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” 

p. 6, and Addendum “B.”

3. Additional Employee Health Plan Costs

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist, which 

self-insures a health plan for employees, incurred expenses/losses totaling $824,453 in additional 

costs when the cessation of health care services at Feather River Hospital and its related facilities 

forced its employees to go to other facilities for health care services that Adventist then had to pay 

for. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 6, and Addendum “B.”

This loss/expense category does not include any of the at least $936,493 in projected 

expenses/losses that Adventist may incur to cover additional employee health plan costs in the 

future. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “B.”

4. Assistance to Camp Fire Assistance Fund

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred 

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expenses/losses totaling $500,000 for payments to the Camp Fire Assistance Fund, through which 

Adventist subsidized certain essential housing, transportation, or other expenses for employees 

whose homes or vehicles were damaged or destroyed by the Camp Fire. See Ex. 1 at 

Addendum “B.”

5. Unemployment Insurance Claims

From the date of the Camp Fire through the filing of its Proof of Claim, Adventist, which 

is self-insured for unemployment benefits, incurred expenses/losses totaling $1,215,722 for 

payments on unemployment insurance claims submitted by former employees as a result of the 

Camp Fire. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 6, and Addendum “B.”

This loss/expense category does not include any expenses/losses to Adventist from the 

$1,579,826 of Adventist’s remaining unemployment insurance liability on such claims. See Ex. 1 

at Addendum “B.”

6. Impact on Insurance Premiums and Coverage

Prior to filing its Proof of Claim, Adventist incurred expenses/losses totaling $36,164,660

when it renewed its liability insurance policy for the period from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 

2020, as a direct result of the losses it suffered from the Camp Fire. This amount consists of a 

$1,164,660 premium increase from the prior year for a policy providing less coverage, and the 

$35,000,000 in additional premiums that it would have cost Adventist to purchase the same 

coverage as it had before the fire. See Ex. 1 at Addendum “A,” p. 6, and Addendum “B.”

III. ARGUMENT

A. Applicable Legal Standards

Adventist’s claims may be subjected to an estimation proceeding only to the extent that they 

are “unliquidated.” See 11 U.S.C. § 502(c). The Ninth Circuit has held that “whether a debt is 

liquidated ‘turns on whether it is subject to ready determination and precision in computation of 

the amount due.” Slack v. Wilshire Ins. Co. (In re Slack), 187 F.3d 1070, 1073 (9th Cir. 1999) 

(quoting Fostvedt v. Dow (In re Fostvedt), 823 F.2d 305, 306 (9th Cir. 1987)); see also In re Audre, 

Inc., 202 B.R. 490, 492 (Bankr. S.D. Cal. 1996) (applying same definition of “liquidated” to section 

502(c) analysis); Aug. 27 Tr. at 118:7-8 (The Court: “The Ninth Circuit has told us what 

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[liquidated] means. It’s a sum readily ascertainable as a sum certain.”). “The definition of ‘ready 

determination’ turns on the distinction between a simple hearing to determine the amount of a 

certain debt, and an extensive and contested evidentiary hearing in which substantial evidence may 

be necessary to establish amounts or liability.” In re Slack, 187 F.3d at 1073-74 (quoting FDIC v. 

Wenberg (In re Wenberg), 94 B.R. 631, 634 (9th Cir. BAP 1988), aff’d, 902 F.2d 768 (9th Cir. 

1990)). Although “[i]t is not entirely clear where the line must be drawn between a simple hearing 

and a complex one,” Loya v. Rapp (In re Loya), 123 B.R. 338, 341 (9th Cir. BAP 1991), the need 

to hear live testimony does not itself render a hearing “overly extensive,” or a claim otherwise 

capable of “ready determination” unliquidated. See In re Wenberg, 94 B.R. at 635 (accounting fees

and legal fees still “subject to ready determination” even though fixing claim required live 

testimony).

That Adventist’s claims sound in tort does not mean that they are unliquidated: “[W]hether 

a debt is liquidated or not . . . does not depend strictly on whether the claim sounds in tort or in 

contract, but whether it is capable of ready computation.” In re Loya, 123 B.R. at 340. Nor does 

the mere fact that the Debtors may dispute their liability preclude Adventist’s claims from being 

liquidated. Rather, “if [Adventist’s] got a claim down to the penny, it can be disputed, but it’s 

liquidated.” See Aug. 27 Tr. at 118:16-17; see also In re Slack, 187 F.3d at 1075 (“[A] debt is 

liquidated if the amount is readily ascertainable, notwithstanding the fact that the question of 

liability has not been finally decided.”); Mazzeo v. United States (In re Mazzeo), 131 F.3d 295, 305 

(2d Cir. 1997) (“[T]he concept of a liquidated debt relates to the amount of liability, not the 

existence of liability.”) (quotation marks omitted); Barcal v. Laughlin (In re Barcal), 213 B.R. 

1008, 1013 (8th Cir. BAP 1997) (“Bankruptcy courts have consistently held that a debt which is 

‘readily calculable,’ or ‘readily determinable’ is a liquidated debt, regardless of whether the debtor 

disputes the obligation.”).

Whether Adventist’s claims are “liquidated” is “an issue involving interpretation of the 

Bankruptcy Code and is therefore a question of law.” See In re Wenberg, 94 B.R. at 633; see also

Aug. 27 Tr. at 127:7-9 (The Court: “[T]hat determination of what should be included or excluded 

from the estimation in that category, . . . that’s a legal issue.”). The Court should rely on Adventist’s 

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Proof of Claim for purposes of that determination. See Scovis v. Henrichsen (In re Scovis), 249 

F.3d 975, 982 (9th Cir. 2001) (“[T]he rule for determining Chapter 13 eligibility under § 109(e) to 

be that eligibility should normally be determined by the debtor’s originally filed schedules, 

checking only to see if the schedules were made in good faith.”). This approach “is similar in 

nature to the subject matter jurisdiction context for purposes of determining diversity jurisdiction,” 

id. (citing In re Pearson, 773 F.2d 751, 756-57 (6th Cir. 1985)), where “the amount [in controversy] 

claimed in good faith by the plaintiff controls unless it appears to a legal certainty that the claim is 

for less than the jurisdictional amount or the amount claimed is merely colorable.” In re Pearson, 

773 F.2d at 757. Or, as this Court aptly put it, “[w]hen a claimant states what it’s owed, that is the 

liquidation of the claim.” Aug. 27 Tr. at 126:21-22.

B. Adventist Objects to Debtors’ Designation of Its Entire Claim as “Unliquidated” 

and Subject to Section 502(c) Estimation

Adventist objects to Debtors’ Designation of Claims to the extent it designates as 

“unliquidated” the Liquidated Amount (the $142,888,153 in expenses/losses listed in Table 1, at 

p. 4, supra).

The majority of the Liquidated Amount loss/expense categories that are the subject of 

Claimant’s objection—including facility remediation and repair costs, system-wide charges, fees 

for attorneys and other professionals, employee health plan costs, unemployment insurance claims,

insurance premium increases, employee transportation and housing expenses via the Camp Fire 

Assistance Fund, and other miscellaneous expenses—are all in the nature of historical, 

out-of-pocket expenses already incurred by Adventist as a result of the Camp Fire. Such expenses

are quintessential examples of claims “subject to ready determination and precision in computation 

of the amount due,” In re Slack, 187 F.3d at 1073, because their amount can be computed by simple 

arithmetic from invoices and expense records. See In re Wenberg, 94 B.R. at 635 (accounting fees 

and legal fees “subject to ready determination”); In re Smith, 325 B.R. 498, 504-05 & n.6 (Bankr. 

D.N.H. 2005) (“actual costs” for hazardous waste clean-up “will, of necessity, be a liquidated claim 

because it can be readily determined with precision through simple arithmetic computation” of 

invoices for contractors, consultants, law firms, and labor and administrative costs); In re Ristic, 

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142 B.R. 856, 862 (Bankr. E.D. Wisc. 1992) (insurance carrier’s claim against arsonist was 

liquidated in the amount already paid to the insured for fire damage). Indeed, that is exactly what 

Adventist has done in its Proof of Claim to precisely determine the total amounts of each of those 

loss/expense categories in line with this Court’s guidance that “if he’s got a claim down to a penny, 

it can be disputed, but it’s liquidated.” See Aug. 27 Tr. at 118:16-17.

Even assuming the possibility that certain invoices or expense records might hypothetically

fall short of being self-explanatory, no overly extensive evidentiary hearing will be needed to 

quantify them. The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel addressed precisely this scenario in 

In re Wenberg, where it considered the section 109(e) eligibility of out-of-pocket accounting and 

attorney’s fees recorded in “billing statements [that] lumped together fees . . . which did not involve 

the underlying adversary proceeding and were thus outside the scope of the award of attorneys’ 

fees and costs.” 94 B.R. at 635. That witness testimony may have been required to clarify the size 

of the out-of-pocket expense claim was no obstacle to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (and 

subsequently, the Ninth Circuit) affirming the bankruptcy court’s conclusion that “the claim for 

fees was subject to ready determination” and thus liquidated. See id. That ruling should be 

dispositive here.

The other loss/expense categories that constitute the Liquidated Amount also are liquidated 

because they likewise are subject to ready determination including by reference to Adventist’s own 

records, and do not inevitably require an overly extensive evidentiary hearing. Adventist’s claims 

for its operating losses and lost profits, for example, can be readily ascertained by comparison of

Adventist’s pre- and post-Camp Fire financial statements. Adventist’s claim for its loss of 

equipment and supplies that were destroyed or damaged in the Camp Fire can in turn be ascertained

from invoice, expense, and other records evidencing their replacement cost. And as this District 

previously held, in light of the availability of appraisal, “determining the value” of “used 

equipment” does not require “an extensive and contested evidentiary hearing in which substantial 

evidence may be necessary.” In re Enriquez, 315 B.R. 112, 122 (Bankr. N.D. Cal. 2004). 

For all of these loss/expense categories, Adventist followed this Court’s instructions to 

“state[] what it’s owed” down to the dollar, and “that is the liquidation of the claim.” See Aug. 27 

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Tr. at 126:21-22. Accordingly, none of the $142,888,153 in expenses/losses listed in Table 1 should 

be subject to any further estimation before Judge Donato pursuant to section 502(c).

IV. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Adventist objects to the Debtors’ designation of the entirety of 

Adventist’s Proof of Claim as “unliquidated” and requests that this Court (a) hold that Adventist’s 

Proof of Claim is “liquidated” to the extent set forth in Table 1 herein and thus the components of 

Adventist’s Proof of Claim constituting the Liquidated Amount may not be subject to estimation 

under section 502(c), and (b) grant such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

Dated: November 15, 2019 REBECCA J. WINTHROP

ROBIN BALL

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP

By: /s/ Rebecca J. Winthrop

REBECCA J. WINTHROP

Attorney for Creditors ADVENTIST 

HEALTH SYSTEM/WEST and 

FEATHER RIVER HOSPITAL D/B/A 

ADVENTIST HEALTH FEATHER 

RIVER

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