Opinion ID: 548355
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Impact of Braunstein's counterclaim

Text: 56 Beard, however, citing Baldwin-United Corp. v. Thompson, 48 B.R. 49 (Bankr. S.D. Ohio 1985), argues that Braunstein consented to the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court by filing a counterclaim. However, the Baldwin-United court did not predicate its jurisdiction to decide the trustee's original claim on the assertion of the counterclaim, as it determined that it had core jurisdiction over the trustee's claim as it was a turnover proceeding on matured notes. The court then found that, by filing the counterclaim and presenting proofs of claim, Thompson had consented to its jurisdiction over the counterclaim itself. Id. at 54-55. Thus, the trustee's claims stood on their own jurisdictional footing. Id. at 54. 57 We also note that the counterclaim in Baldwin-United was permissive. See id. at 55 n. 5. By contrast, Braunstein's counterclaim was compulsory, 13 and was only made after his motion to dismiss was denied on the grounds that the proceeding was core. See In re Castlerock Properties, 781 F.2d 159, 161-63 (9th Cir.1986). We agree that the better rule ... is that defendant does not waive objections to jurisdiction and venue by asserting a compulsory counterclaim. 6 Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure Civil 2d Sec. 1416 at 125 (1990). See also In re Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Frates, 911 F.2d 380 (10th Cir.1990); Dragor Shipping Corp. v. Union Tank Car Corp., 378 F.2d 241, 244 n. 4 (9th Cir.1967) (a finding that a defendant has waived his objections to jurisdiction and venue by interposing a compulsory counterclaim  'is something less than fair play.' ). 58