Court Opinion

ID: 9692615
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 15:58:45.606398+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:35.676504
License: Public Domain

STOSBERG,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur in the Panel's judgment except with respect to insolvency. Although the bankruptcy court's opinion did not mention the affidavit of Sion W. Digman, during oral argument, the parties freely conceded that the bankruptcy court thoroughly discussed the Digman affidavit during a four hour hearing on the summary judgment motion. Under the federal rules, summary judgment is not rendered impossible simply because the nonmoving party produced an expert to support its position. Hayes v. Douglas Dynamics, Inc., 8 F.3d 88, 92 (1st Cir.1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1126, 114 S.Ct. 2133, 128 L.Ed.2d 863 (1994). Rather, the affidavit produced must be sufficient to withstand a summary judgment motion and therefore, must set forth facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial. Monks v. General Elec. Co., 919 F.2d 1189, 1193 (6th Cir.1990). The mere filing of a counter affidavit does not automatically create a genuine issue of material fact and thus defeat a summary judgment motion.
Digman's conclusory statements ten years after the LBO sale are not direct evidence of value, and his averments fall woefully short of qualifying as competent evidence of the Debtor's solvency. The Digman affidavit did not and cannot refute the amount of the sales price, which the bankruptcy court found equated to the "fair saleable value" of the company. The bankruptcy court appropriately declined to find that the Digman affidavit raised a genuine issue of material fact with reference to the Debtor's insolvency.