### IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 13

- 3 1134 Summary Calendar

WILLIAM D. CARROLL, JR.; CAROLYN K. CARROLL,

Plaintiff s
- Appellants , v. JP MORGAN CHASE BANK,

Defendant

- Appell ee

.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana USDC No. 12

- CV

- 637

Before DAVIS, SOUTHWICK , and HIGGINSON , Circuit Judges

. PER CURIAM: * Plaintiffs

- Appellants William and Carolyn Carroll (“Plaintiffs,” collectively) appeal from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant

- Appellee J.P. Morgan Chase Bank (“Chase”). Plaintiffs filed suit in October 2012, alleging that Chase breached a contract r elated to a borrowing agreement entered into in 2000 , which affected property owned by Plaintiffs . In May 2008, more than four years prior to initiating the instant case, Plaintiffs filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, which was

* Pursuant to 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5.4. United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit 

### FILED July 10, 2014 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Case: 13-31134 Document: 00512693041 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/10/2014No. 13

- 3 1134 converted to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 5, 2008, and then converted again to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy on August 27, 2008 . The Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee is Samera L. Abide. The filing of a Chap ter 7 bankruptcy petition creates an estate consisting of “all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case.” 1 “The phrase ‘all legal or equitable interests’ includes legal claims

— whether based on state or feder al law.” 2 A bankruptcy
trustee is the representative of the bankruptcy estate and has the capacity to sue and be sued

. 3 “Thus, a trustee . . . is the real party in interest, and is the only party with standing to prosecute causes of action belonging to the estate once the bankruptcy petition has been filed.” 4 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(a) requires that “[a]n action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest .” 5 Relying on these principles, the district court found that the Plaintiffs lacked standing because they were not the real party in interest to prosecute their claim for breach of contract . The district court reasoned that the trustee was the only party capa ble of bringing the claim because it accrued before the filing of t heir bankruptcy petition in 2008, had never been abandoned by the trustee, and was therefore part of the bankrupt estate

. For the reasons stated above and those set forth in the district co urt’s careful September 24, 2013, Memorandum Order, we agree with the district court’s conclusion, and affirm

1 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1).

2 United States ex rel Spicer v. Westbrook , 751 F.3d 354, 36 1

- 62 (5th Cir. 2014) (citing In re Seven Seas Petroleum, Inc. , 522 F.3d 575, 584 (5th Cir. 2008)).

3 11 U.S.C. § 323.
4 Kane v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. , 535 F.3d 380, 385 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing 11 U.S.C. §§ 323, 541(a)(1); Wieburg v. GTE Sw. Inc. , 272 F .3d 302, 306 (5th Cir. 2001) (bankruptcy trustee has exclusive standing to assert undisclosed claims that fall within the bankrup tcy estate )).
5 F ED

. R. C IV

. P. 17( a).

2 Case: 13-31134 Document: 00512693041 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/10/2014No. 13

- 3 1134
i ts judgment. All pending motions are DENIED. AFFIRMED.

3 Case: 13-31134 Document: 00512693041 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/10/2014