Opinion ID: 423702
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: discretionary stay

Text: 19 Our holding that an automatic stay is not available to the appellants limits further consideration of their entitlement to a stay to the inherent power in courts under their general equity powers and in the efficient management of their dockets to grant relief. Such power in the district courts is well recognized. It is not, however, without limitation. As was observed by the Fifth Circuit in Wedgeworth, citing Landis v. North American Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254-55, 57 S.Ct. 163, 165-66, 81 L.Ed. 153 (1936), proper use of this authority calls for the exercise of judgment which must weigh competing interests and maintain an even balance. The party seeking a stay must justify it by clear and convincing circumstances outweighing potential harm to the party against whom it is operative. 20 The suppliant for a stay must make out a clear case of hardship or inequity in being required to go forward, if there is even a fair possibility that the stay for which he prays will work damage to someone else. Landis, supra. 21 Here we do not believe such a showing has been made. Of particular significance in balancing the competing interests of the parties in the case at bar are the human aspects of the needs of a plaintiff in declining health as opposed to the practical problems imposed by the proceedings in bankruptcy, which very well could be pending for a long period of time. A stay under such circumstances would work manifest injustice to the claimant. 22 Piecemeal litigation no doubt will result from the absence of the defendants now in bankruptcy court. Conceivably, certain of the claims may need to be relitigated in that court or elsewhere. However, we are convinced that the requisite balancing of the competing interests of the plaintiff and the non-bankrupt defendants in this case weighs in favor of permitting the trial to proceed against appellants. We can discern no clear case of hardship or inequity in requiring the appellants (the remaining defendants below) from proceeding to trial. The defendants protected now by the shield of a stay under § 362(a) will in time in some forum have the allegations of the complaint against them and any claims they may have against co-defendants fully litigated. The results of the litigation in bankruptcy will not be squandered. 23 Appellants complain of the unfairness of being required to adjudicate the great number of asbestosis cases in both courts of law and bankruptcy and relitigation upon final judgments in one court or the other. Admittedly, bearing in mind the complexity of asbestosis litigation, many problems are envisioned, not the least of which is discovery. As we view it, none of the problems encountered by appellants defy resolution given the normal delays in litigation of this kind and the resourcefulness of counsel in developing strategies to meet them. Much of the discovery was completed before protective orders of the bankruptcy court were filed. As is known generally from the history of this litigation, much discovery was in existence, particularly as to Johns-Manville, at the time this case was filed. In the case at bar, there is no specific meaningful complaint by any of the appellants that discovery has been thwarted, or that specific problems exist. 24 The distress of appellants is understandable. They consider the defendants protected momentarily by the bankruptcy orders as the parties most culpable in the case. But that circumstance is not to be charged to the plaintiff. He no doubt has the same concern. Burdens are inevitable for all parties in litigation as complex as here involved. In any event, the position in which the appellants find themselves, while taxing and burdensome, does not constitute a sufficient offset to the plaintiff's right to have his case resolved without undue delay. 25 Accordingly, for the reasons heretofore assigned, we conclude that the appellants are not entitled to discretionary stays to halt the trial of the case as to them pending the proceedings in bankruptcy of their co-defendants.