Opinion ID: 3157639
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Glory Wealth’s Judgment Against ICI

Text: Next, Freight Bulk contends the district court should not have permitted Glory Wealth to receive a share of the proceeds from the sale of the M/V CAPE VIEWER because Glory Wealth failed to register its New York judgment in the Eastern District of Virginia, “a perquisite to enforce[ment] . . . under 28 U.S.C. § 1963.” (Opening Br. 38.) Freight Bulk raises various arguments flowing from this main premise, all of which it asserts require “this Court [to] render judgment for Freight Bulk.” (Opening Br. 40.) We need not consider the substance of Freight Bulk’s arguments in light of two threshold considerations: waiver and harmlessness. To start, Freight Bulk never argued to the district court that Glory Wealth’s failure to formally submit the judgment it sought to be enforced precluded it from receiving a share of the proceeds from the sale of the M/V CAPE VIEWER. As such, Freight Bulk did not put the district court “on notice as to the substance of the issue” now raised on appeal, as required to preserve it for review. Nelson v. Adams USA, Inc., 529 U.S. 460, 469 (2000). the first time on appeal. In re Under Seal, 749 F.3d 276, 28586 (4th Cir. 2014). 22 In addition, the record shows that between the district court’s order holding Freight Bulk liable and the sale of the M/V CAPE VIEWER, Freight Bulk never argued that Glory Wealth’s failure to formally introduce a judgment against ICI precluded it from recovering a portion of the proceeds. This was so even though the district court explicitly asked Freight Bulk if it had any objections to the distribution. At that time, Freight Bulk only expressed a somewhat indifferent concern that it did not know the basis for the agreed-upon allocation between Glory Wealth and Flame. We have refused to consider newly raised arguments absent “exceptional circumstances,” that is to say, a “‘fundamental error’ or a denial of fundamental justice.” In re Under Seal, 749 F.3d at 285-86. No exceptional circumstances exist in this case. Another consideration demonstrates the absence of any such fundamental injustice and stands as an alternative basis to reject Freight Bulk’s argument. Even assuming error, Freight Bulk would not be entitled to any relief as a consequence of Glory Wealth’s failure to formally file its judgment. This is so because Flame registered an enforceable judgment in the district court against Freight Bulk in the amount of $19,907,118.36. That judgment far exceeds the approximately $8.3 million in proceeds arising from the sale of the M/V CAPE VIEWER. Flame’s claim thus precluded Freight Bulk from any 23 portion of the proceeds from the sale. Prior to distribution of the proceeds, however, Flame and Glory Wealth mutually agreed how to divide the proceeds between themselves, and the district court entered judgment based on that agreement. Freight Bulk thus has no interest in how they resolved their competing claims. It has not been harmed by the alleged error, nor has it shown that it would be entitled to any relief as a result. See 28 U.S.C. § 2111 (stating the court will not consider harmless errors); Fed. R. Civ. P. 61 (same). Accordingly, we decline to consider the substance of Freight Bulk’s argument. 8