Court Opinion

ID: 9374766
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-23 21:00:56.118991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:52.745091
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 21-2136      Doc: 31       Filed: 02/22/2023   Pg: 1 of 3

                                           UNPUBLISHED

                              UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                  FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                             No. 21-2136

        MICHAEL W. DECKER,

                            Debtor - Appellant,

                     and

        WINCHESTER ACCOUNTING, LLC,

                            Defendant - Appellant,

                     v.

        WILLIAM E. CALLAHAN, JR.,

                            Trustee - Appellee.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at
        Harrisonburg. Elizabeth Kay Dillon, District Judge. (5:20-cv-00071-EKD)

        Submitted: January 26, 2023                              Decided: February 22, 2023

        Before AGEE, RICHARDSON, and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: James P. Campbell, Matthew L. Clark, CAMPBELL FLANNERY, P.C.,
        Leesburg, Virginia, for Appellants. Monica Taylor Monday, William E. Callahan, Jr.,
USCA4 Appeal: 21-2136      Doc: 31         Filed: 02/22/2023    Pg: 2 of 3

        David R. Berry, GENTRY LOCKE, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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USCA4 Appeal: 21-2136      Doc: 31          Filed: 02/22/2023     Pg: 3 of 3

        PER CURIAM:

               Michael W. Decker and Winchester Accounting, LLC, appeal the district court’s

        order affirming the bankruptcy court’s ruling in favor of the trustee on the parties’ cross

        motions for summary judgment and avoiding transfers of property of the bankruptcy estate

        to Decker. They contend that the bankruptcy court erred by failing to consider operating

        expenses in determining that the postpetition transfers were from prepetition profits, that

        the bankruptcy court erred in its application of the summary judgment standard, and that

        the district court incorrectly applied the earnings exception of 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(6).

               “In reviewing the judgment of a district court sitting in review of a bankruptcy court,

        we apply the same standard of review that was applied by the district court.” Copley v.

        United States, 959 F.3d 118, 121 (4th Cir. 2020). Thus, “we review the bankruptcy court’s

        legal conclusions de novo, its factual findings for clear error, and any discretionary

        decisions for abuse of discretion.” Id. With these standards in mind, we have reviewed

        the record submitted on appeal and the arguments of the parties and find no reversible error.

        Accordingly, we affirm for the reasons stated by the district court. Decker v. Scott,

        No. 5:20-cv-00071-EKD (W.D. Va. Sept. 14, 2021). * We dispense with oral argument

        because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

        court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                         AFFIRMED

               *
                While this appeal was pending, W. Stephen Scott, who served as the Chapter 7
        Trustee in these proceedings, resigned. William E. Callahan, Jr., is the new Chapter 7
        Trustee and has been substituted in this case as the Appellee.

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