Opinion ID: 469162
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Designate a Record and Issues on Appeal

Text: 10 Bankruptcy Rule 8006 requires an appellant to file a designation of items to be included in the record and a statement of issues within 10 days after filing a notice of appeal. Bankruptcy Rule 9006(b)(1) states in part: 11 [W]hen an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified period by these rules ... the court for cause shown may at any time in its discretion ... on motion made after the expiration of the specified period permit the act to be done where the failure to act was the result of excusable neglect. Bankruptcy Rule 8001(a) provides in part: 12 Failure of an appellant to take any step other than the timely filing of a notice of appeal does not affect the validity of the appeal, but is ground only for such action as the district court or bankruptcy appellate panel deems appropriate, which may include dismissal of the appeal. 13 We review for an abuse of discretion a district court's decision regarding the imposition of sanctions for non-compliance with non-jurisdictional bankruptcy procedural requirements. We find no abuse. See In re Hill, 775 F.2d 1385, 1386-87 (9th Cir.1985). 14 In In re Hill, the bankruptcy trustee timely appealed the bankruptcy judge's adverse decision to the district court, but failed to file a brief within the time frame specified under the bankruptcy rules. The trustee failed to seek the district court's permission to file a late brief and did not satisfactorily explain his failure to file a brief. A week after the time period for filing a brief had elapsed, appellees in the action filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. On the following day, the trustee filed his brief with the district court clerk. The district court later granted appellees' motion to dismiss. The trustee then filed a motion to reconsider the order to dismiss and permit late filing of the brief, which the district court denied. 15 We held that the district court's action constituted an abuse of discretion. We explained: 16 [T]he default was the fault of the attorneys and not the litigant. Yet the impact of the sanction imposed is primarily against the client. We have no intent to disavow the established principle that the faults and defaults of the attorney may be imputed to, and their consequences visited upon, his client. We do, however, believe that when any court is considering the imposition of sanctions for non-jurisdictional, procedural defaults and deficiencies in the management of litigation, the selection of the sanction to be imposed must take into consideration the impact of the sanction and the alternatives available to achieve assessment of the penalties in conformity with fault. Absent such consideration, there is an abuse of discretion. 17 Id. at 1387. 18 Similarly, in this case failure to designate a record and issues on appeal and failure to move for enlargement of time was the fault of the attorney and not Fehl. The primary impact of dismissal of the appeal would have been against Fehl. Having considered these factors, the district court was well within its discretion to permit Fehl's appeal to go forward. Accord In re Bienert, 48 B.R. 326, 327 (N.D.Iowa 1985) (where debtors and their attorney showed no bad faith with reference to their untimely designation of record and issues on appeal, action should not be dismissed. [J]ustice is better served when controversies are decided on their merits rather than procedural technicalities.). 19