Court Opinion

ID: 9685416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:36:56.549129+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:05.756848
License: Public Domain

VANDEWALLE, Justice,
concurring in result.
In State v. Haakenson, 213 N.W.2d 394, 399 (N.D.1973), Justice Vogel, writing for the majority, stated that “The touchstones hereafter for an effective appeal on any proper issue should be (1) that the matter has been appropriately raised in the trial court so that the trial court can intelligently rule on it, and (2) that there be a valid appeal from the judgment. Any other traps for the unwary on the road to the appellate courthouse should be eliminated.” [Emphasis supplied.] That statement appears to recognize that the perfecting of a valid appeal may be a “trap for the *112unwary.” If so, today’s majority opinion is proof of the cogency of that statement.
I agree with the majority's analysis of the rather complicated issue of whether the automatic-stay provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) toll the running of the time for filing a notice of appeal from a State-court judgment after a bankruptcy petition has been filed and whether the extension-of-time provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 108(b)(2) govern the time for filing such a notice of appeal. Unfortunately for the Burks this is the first time that exposition has been made by this court or perhaps any other court.
In addition to requiring a construction of Federal bankruptcy law, this case is further complicated by the fact there is a counterclaim by the Burks at issue. PCA argued for dismissal of the appeal because the counterclaim is an action by the debtor rather than against the debtor and therefore was not stayed by the bankruptcy statutes. The matter is thus obfuscated by our decision in Kessel v. Peterson, 350 N.W.2d 603 (N.D.1984), but I do not understand that dichotomy to be the basis of the majority opinion.
If we could exercise an equitable jurisdiction I would favor permitting the Burks’ appeal of the dismissal of their counterclaim to proceed. The majority opinion correctly notes that the time for filing the notice of appeal is mandatory and jurisdictional and as a result there is no valid appeal in this instance. I must therefore reluctantly concur in the result reached by the majority opinion.