Opinion ID: 2635243
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trustee Standing Under the Bankruptcy Code

Text: A bankruptcy trustee has standing to bring two categories of actions: those available to the debtor corporation under section 541, [4] and those available to hypothetical judgment lien creditors under section 544. [5] Sender v. Simon, 84 F.3d 1299, 1304 (10th Cir.1996). The issue on which we granted certiorari is whether Anstine has standing under section 544(a), stepping into the shoes of a hypothetical judgment lien creditor. Section 544(a) gives the trustee the power to avoid transfers and obligations of the debtor, including the power to bring claims that the debtor's creditors themselves could bring to satisfy judgments against the debtor under the applicable state law. [6] Zilkha Energy Co., 920 F.2d at 1523. The scope of a trustee's standing under section 544(a) is determined by the rights that a judgment lien creditor holds against a corporate officer under state law. Simon, 84 F.3d at 1304; 5 Collier on Bankruptcy ¶ 544.05 (Lawrence P. King, ed. Matthew Bender 15th ed. rev.2006). Hence, to determine whether Anstine has standing to sue the attorneys for aiding and abetting the president's breach of fiduciary duty, we must determine whether judgment lien creditors may sue a corporation's president for a breach of fiduciary duty under Colorado law. To determine what claims are available to creditors, we now turn to an examination of the duties owed by the directors and officers of an insolvent corporation to the corporation's creditors.