IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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No. 97-20317
Summary Calendar
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IN THE MATTER OF:
SUPERIOR OILFIELD PRODUCTS, INCORPORATED,
Debtor.
___________________________________
JAMES P. SMITH, Disbursing Agent for Superior Oilfield Products, Incorporated,
Appellant,
v.
RICHARD CHURCH,
Appellee.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Texas
(H-96-CV-1137)
________________________________________________________________________________
October 27, 1997
Before JOLLY, BENAVIDES, AND PARKER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:1
The appellant, James P. Smith, the disbursing agent for Superior Oilfield Products, Inc.
(“SOP”), appeals the bankruptcy court’s denial of his petition for the equitable subordination of
Richard Church’s claim. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM.
1
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is
not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
I.
This action is the most recent event in an ongoing family saga involving Richard Church and
his son, Michael Church. In 1985, Richard Church and Michael Church formed Superior Oilfield
Services, Inc. (“SOS”). Although each owned fifty percent of the company, Richard Church
contributed almost all of initial capital. Shortly thereaft er, Richard Church and Michael Church
stopped speaking with one another, and Richard Church ceased active participation in SOS.
Sometime after Richard Church ceased active participation in SOS, Michael Church
incorporated SOP, the debtor, using the location, business, employees, products, and other assets of
SOS. In 1989, upon learning of these events, Richard Church sued Michael Church, SOS, and SOP
in state court, alleging that Michael Church had converted the value of SOS by diverting its business,
assets, and employees to SOP. The parties settled the state court suit on April 22, 1992. The written
settlement agreement required Richard Church to release any cause of action he might have against
Michael Church, SOS, or SOP, and to release all claims of ownership of shares in SOS or SOP. In
exchange, the settlement provided that SOP would transfer some equipment and make a series of
payments to Richard Church, beginning with a $5,000 lump sum payment, followed by monthly
payments of $500 for the next twelve months, $750 for the following twelve months, and $1,000 per
month for the remainder of Richard Church’s life.
On July 2, 1994, SOP filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
On August 30, 1994, Richard Church filed his proof of claim, stating an unsecured claim for
$292,000. On the first page of the proof of claim, in the box requesting disclosure of the “Basis for
Claim,” the box titled “Other” is checked and the words “Original Stockholder” are typed into the
space allowed for a brief description. In the bench trial, Richard Church testified that he meant that
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he was an original stockholder in SOS.
On December 7, 1994, the debtor filed this complaint, objecting to Richard Church’s claim
on the grounds that the claim should be subordinated to the claims of all other creditors, that Richard
Church’s proof of claim should be categorized as proof of an equity interest rather than a debt, and
that the claim originated from a fraudulent transfer. After conducting an evidentiary hearing on the
debtor’s complaint, the bankruptcy court, in a Memorandum Opinion dated February 6, 1996,
rejected each of the debtor’s claims. On appeal to the district court, the debtor primarily challenged
the bankruptcy court’s conclusion that equitable subordination did not apply. The district court
rejected the debtor’s claim, finding that there was no inequitable conduct by Richard Church and that
“no-fault” subordination was inapplicable to the facts of this case.
II.
As an initial matter, we address the appellee’s argument that this appeal should be dismissed
because James P. Smith is not a proper party and, t herefore, does not have standing to bring this
appeal. According to the appellee, the record does not establish any connection between Mr. Smith
and this case. This argument is entirely without merit. Mr. Smith was appointed by the bankruptcy
court as the disbursing agent for the debtor and, as such, has standing to bring this appeal.
Accordingly, we reject the appellee’s jurisdictional argument.
III.
Although the appellant has raised four issues on appeal, in reality, this appeal presents only
one issue: whether the bankruptcy court erred in concluding that equitable subordination did not
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apply. In reviewing a decision of a bankruptcy court, we review the bankruptcy court’s findings of
fact for clear error and the bankruptcy court’s conclusions of law de novo. In re United States
Abatement Corp., 79 F.3d 393, 397 (5th Cir. 1996). A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if, after
review of all the evidence, the court is left with a firm conviction that the bankruptcy court erred.
Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8013; In re McDaniel, 70 F.3d 841, 843 (5th Cir. 1995).
As the district court correctly noted, in this circuit, there is a well-established three- pronged
test for determining whether equitable subordination is appropriate. In re Cajun Elec. Power Coop.,
Inc., 119 F.3d 349, 357 (5th Cir. 1997) (citing In re United States Abatement Corp., 39 F.3d 556,
561 (5th Cir. 1994)). First, the claimant must have engaged in some type of inequitable conduct.
Second, the conduct must have resulted in injury to the creditors or conferred an unfair advantage
on the claimant. Third, the invocation of equitable subordination must not be inconsistent with the
provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. In re Cajun Elec., 119 F.3d at 357. “While our three-pronged
test appears to be quite broad, we have largely confined equitable subordination to three general
paradigms: (1) when a fiduciary of the debtor misuses his position to the disadvantage of other
creditors; (2) when a third party controls the debtor to the disadvantage of other creditors; and (3)
when a third party actually defrauds other creditors.” In re United States Abatement Corp., 39 F.3d
at 561; accord In re Cajun Elec., 119 F.3d at 357.
After reviewing the record in this case, we find no basis for overturning the bankruptcy
court’s finding that there was no evidence of inequitable conduct on behalf of Richard Church. In
particular, we note that there is no evidence of collusion between the debtor and Richard Church.
On the contrary, as the bankruptcy court noted, the uncontroverted evidence shows that Richard
Church and Michael Church had not spoken for years prior to the filing of Richard Church’s state
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lawsuit.
In anticipation of this rather unremarkable conclusion, the appellant urges us to adopt the “no-
fault” doctrine of equitable subordination. Under this doctrine, a court can subordinate a claim
without first finding inequitable conduct on behalf of the claimant. See In re Envirodyne Indus., Inc.,
79 F.3d 579, 581-82 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 77 (1996); In re Virtual Network Servs.
Corp., 902 F.2d 1246, 1250 (7th Cir. 1990) (“In sum, we conclude that [11 U.S.C.] § 510(c)(1)
authorizes courts to equitably subordinate claims to other claims on a case-by-case basis without
requiring in every instance inequitable conduct on the part of the creditor claiming parity among other
unsecured general creditors.”). Instead, the court “look[s] to the origin and nature of the unsecured
claim and decide[s] whet her equity requires that it be subordinated to claims of other general
unsecured creditors.” In re Evirodyne Indus., 79 F.3d at 582.
Even if we were inclined to adopt this doctrine, and we express no opinion on the issue today,
we would not apply the rule to the facts of this case. As the district court correctly noted, the cases
that the appellant cites in support of its argument are limited to tax penalty cases, punitive damages
cases, and claims originating from a stock redemption or similar transaction. See, e.g., In re
Envirodyne Indus., 79 F.3d 579 (treating a short-form merger like a stock redemption); Burden v.
United States (In re Burden), 917 F.2d 115, 116-18 (3d Cir. 1990) (tax penalty); Robinson v.
Wangeman, 75 F.2d 756 (5th Cir. 1935) (stock redemption); In re New Era Packaging, Inc., 186
B.R. 329 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1995) (stock redemption); In re Colin, 44 B.R. 806, 810 (Bankr.
S.D.N.Y. 1984) (punitive damages).
Although the appellant, relying on our decision in Robinson, argues that Richard Church’s
state court claim should be viewed as a redemption of stock in SOP in exchange for debt, the facts
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of this case do not support this analogy. In this case, unlike Robinson, Richard Church never held
stock in the debtor company—SOP. Instead, Richard Church held stock in SOS and his state court
suit was, in essence, an action to recover his fifty-percent interest in that company. Indeed, in the
state court suit, Richard Church argued t hat Michael Church and SOP had appropriated and
converted SOS’s assets and business opportunities.2 Accordingly, we find that, even if we were
inclined to adopt the “no-fault” doctrine of equitable subordination, we would not extend its
application to the facts of this case.
IV.
For the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM.
2
The appellant contends that Richard Church judicially admitted that he had an equity interest in SOP.
Upon review of the testimony, we find the Richard Church’s statements are, at most, equivocal. Moreover, irrespective
of what he thought he may have owned, the record is clear that Richard Church never acquired an equity interest in
SOP. Accordingly, we find the appellant’s judicial admission arguments to be without merit.
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