PRESIDING JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
¶ 1 Plaintiff Jerry L. Barnes, a former bankruptcy debtor, sued defendants Daniel R. Lolling (Lolling) and his employer, United Contractors Midwest, Inc. (United Contractors), for personal injuries Barnes allegedly sustained during an automobile accident. The accident took place on October 7, 2011, after Barnes had filed her Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and while the bankruptcy proceeding was pending. Barnes did not disclose her potential cause of action against the defendants to the bankruptcy trustee or schedule the cause of action as an asset of the bankruptcy estate. Barnes filed the instant personal injury claim on October 7, 2013, two years after the accident and approximately five months after the bankruptcy court had discharged Barnes's debts and closed the bankruptcy case.
¶ 2 The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that: (1) Barnes's personal injury claim was barred under the doctrine of judicial estoppel because Barnes failed to disclose the claim during the bankruptcy proceedings; and (2) Barnes lacked standing to sue because the personal injury action accrued while the bankruptcy case was pending and was therefore the property of the bankruptcy estate. The trial court ruled that the elements of judicial estoppel had been met and granted summary judgment for the defendants on that basis. This appeal followed.
¶ 4 On February 8, 2008, Barnes and her husband filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection to resolve their personal and business debt. Barnes completed an individual debtor petition in her name and provided all the required information. She appeared in bankruptcy court on only one occasion at the beginning of the case. Sometime in 2008, the bankruptcy court
¶ 5 The bankruptcy court discharged Barnes's debt and closed the bankruptcy case in April 2013. The Trustee's Final Report and Account showed that, over a period of approximately five years, Barnes paid a total of $30,000 to her creditors. Barnes had $92,164.70 in unsecured debt discharged in bankruptcy.
¶ 6 On October 7, 2011, approximately 18 months prior to the discharge of her bankruptcy, Barnes was involved in a motor vehicle accident with the defendant, Daniel Lolling. At the time of the accident, Lolling was purportedly working within the scope of his employment with the defendant, United Contractors. Barnes retained counsel to prosecute her personal injury claims of negligence against Lolling and United Contractors. Eighteen days after the accident, Barnes's counsel wrote to the defendants' insurer stating that: (1) he would be representing Barnes in her claim for personal injuries against Lolling and United Contractors; and (2) he anticipated that Barnes's damages from the accident "could easily exceed $50,000" in medical bills "plus lost wages." The defendants disagreed with Barnes' allegations, disputed her claim that Lolling was negligent, and denied liability.
¶ 7 On October 7, 2013, six months after the bankruptcy discharge and two years after the accident, Barnes filed the instant personal injury action against Lolling and United Contractors.
¶ 8 At the conclusion of discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment on two grounds. First, the defendants argued that Barnes lacked standing to bring the suit because the personal injury claim had accrued before the bankruptcy proceedings were closed and was therefore the property of the bankruptcy estate. Second, the defendants argued that Barnes's claim was barred under the doctrine of judicial estoppel because Barnes had failed to disclose the claim as a potential asset during the bankruptcy proceedings.
¶ 9 Barnes responded to the defendants' summary judgment motion, attaching a supporting affidavit. In her sworn affidavit, Barnes asserted (inter alia) that: (1) she did not inform the attorney representing her in the personal injury action that she had previously filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition and was making monthly payments as required by the bankruptcy plan; (2) she did not know that she had a duty to report the automobile accident to the bankruptcy court; (3) as a
¶ 10 The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the basis of judicial estoppel. The court's written order states:
The record on appeal does not include the report of proceedings or a transcript of the trial court's hearing on the motion for summary judgment. Accordingly, any statements that trial court may have made from the bench in issuing its summary judgment order have not been made available to this Court for review.
¶ 11 This appeal followed.
¶ 14 As noted above, the trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants in this case on the basis of judicial estoppel. It did not address the defendants' alternative argument that Barnes lacked standing to bring the instant personal injury action. However, this court is not bound by the trial court's reasoning and may affirm on any basis supported by the record, regardless of whether the trial court based its decision on that basis. Mutual Management Services, Inc. v. Swalve, 2011 IL App (2d) 100778, ¶ 11, 353 Ill.Dec. 732, 956 N.E.2d 594; See also Kubicheck v. Traina, 2013 IL App (3d) 110157, ¶ 28, n.3, 374 Ill.Dec. 860, 996 N.E.2d 307 ("we review the trial court's judgment, not its rationale, and we may affirm on any basis that the record supports"); People v. Reed, 361 Ill.App.3d 995, 1000, 297 Ill.Dec. 841, 838 N.E.2d 328 (2005). We hold that Barnes lacked standing to bring the instant claim for her own benefit after the bankruptcy proceeding was closed.
¶ 15 A Chapter 13 bankruptcy estate encompasses all property, including any legal claims acquired by the debtor after the petition is filed and before the case is closed. See 11 U.S.C. §§ 541(a)(1), 1306(a)(1); In re Jones, 657 F.3d 921, 927 (9th Cir.2011); In re Willett, 544 F.3d 787, 791 n. 3 (7th Cir.2008); In re Waldron, 536 F.3d 1239, 1241 (11th Cir.2008); Cable v. Ivy Tech State College, 200 F.3d 467, 472-74 (7th Cir.1999), overruled on other grounds, Hill v. Tangherlini, 724 F.3d 965 (7th Cir. 2013).
¶ 16 Although there is a trustee in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the trustee acts as an advisor and administrator while the debtor remains in possession of the estate. 11 U.S.C. §§ 1302(a), 1303, 1306(b); Cable, 200 F.3d at 472. Accordingly, a Chapter 13 debtor can pursue legal claims for the benefit of the estate and its creditors. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 6009; Cable, 200 F.3d at 472-73 ("Under the reorganization chapters [including Chapter 13], the debtor-in-possession steps into the role of trustee and exercises concurrent authority to sue and be sued on behalf of the estate"); Smith v. Rockett, 522 F.3d 1080, 1081 (10th Cir. 2008) (collecting cases). However, the debtor lacks standing to bring such claims for his own benefit. Smith, 522 F.3d at 1082; Cable, 200 F.3d at 473-74; Ruhl v. HSBC Mortgage Services, Inc., 399 B.R. 49, 55 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 2008); Richardson v. United Parcel Service, 195 B.R. 737 (Bankr. E.D. Mo.1996).
¶ 17 In this case, the instant personal injury claim accrued on October 7, 2011, while Barnes' bankruptcy proceeding was ongoing. The claim was therefore property of the bankruptcy estate. 11 U.S.C. §§ 541(a)(1), 1306(a)(1); Waldron, 536 F.3d at 1241. Nevertheless, Barnes never disclosed the claim or scheduled it as an asset during the bankruptcy proceeding even though the bankruptcy proceeding remained ongoing for another 18 months. After she was discharged from bankruptcy, Barnes filed the instant claim in her individual capacity for her own benefit. She lacked standing to do so, because the claim remained property of the bankruptcy estate. 123 Cutting Co., 2 A.D.3d at 607, 770 N.Y.S.2d 365; Best, 7 Misc.3d 242, 793 N.Y.S.2d 682; Van Horn, 2015 WL 925895, *1.
¶ 18 We therefore affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants. In order to bring the instant claim, Barnes must move to reopen the bankruptcy proceeding so that she may schedule the claim as an asset of the bankruptcy estate. If the bankruptcy proceeding is reopened, Barnes will then have standing to re-file the claim in her own name, provided that she does so on behalf of the estate and her creditors.
¶ 20 Even assuming arguendo that Barnes had standing to file the instant claim, we would affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment on the basis of judicial estoppel. In determining whether to bar a claim on grounds of judicial estoppel, the trial court must first determine whether the prerequisites for application of judicial estoppel have been met. Seymour, 2015 IL 118432, ¶ 47, 396 Ill.Dec. 135, 39 N.E.3d 961. In this respect, the party to be estopped must have: "(1) taken two positions, (2) that are factually inconsistent, (3) in separate judicial or quasi-judicial
¶ 21 When the trial court's discretionary application of judicial estoppel results in the termination of the litigation by summary judgment, as here, our review is de novo. Id. ¶ 49. Summary judgment is appropriate if no material fact is in dispute; if reasonable persons could not draw differing "inferences from the undisputed material facts;" and if reasonable persons could not "differ on the weight to be given the relevant factors of a legal standard." Id. ¶ 42. In reviewing an order granting summary judgment, we strictly construe the record against the movant and view it liberally in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. ¶ 49. Where there are no disputed issues of material fact related to the application of judicial estoppel, we then decide whether the trial court abused its discretion in applying the doctrine.
¶ 22 In this case, Barnes took inconsistent positions by: (1) failing to inform the bankruptcy court of her new asset of a personal injury cause of action, thus representing that no claim existed, and (2) filing this cause of action. She intended the courts in each proceeding to accept the truth of the facts she alleged. Moreover, she received a benefit from the bankruptcy proceeding by having more than $92,000 of her unsecured debt discharged in bankruptcy without having to increase her payments to her creditors in light of the claim. Thus, all of the prerequisites for judicial estoppel have been met.
¶ 23 The only remaining question is whether the trial court properly exercised its discretion by applying judicial estoppel to dismiss Barnes's claim on summary judgment. Although the trial court's brief written order granting summary judgment is in the record, a transcript of the oral arguments and of any statements the trial court made from the bench in granting the defendants' motion has not been made part of the record on appeal.
¶ 24 In any event, there is ample evidence in this case suggesting that Barnes's failure to disclose her personal injury claim during the bankruptcy was a deliberate attempt to mislead or deceive the bankruptcy court and Barnes's creditors. Eighteen days after the automobile accident, Barnes retained a personal injury lawyer to represent her in connection with the October 2011 automobile accident. At that time, Barnes's personal injury lawyer wrote to the defendants stating that he anticipated that Barnes's damages from the accident "could easily exceed $50,000" in medical bills "plus lost wages." Nevertheless, Barnes did not disclose her personal injury claim or report any "lost wages" or diminishment of earning capacity to the bankruptcy court during the ensuing 18 months while the bankruptcy proceedings remained pending. Nor did she file her claim or attempt to reach a settlement with the defendants during that time. Instead, she sat on her claim for almost two years, and then filed the claim in her own name and for her own benefit after the bankruptcy proceedings had closed and her unsecured debt had been discharged.
¶ 25 These facts (and others) render the instant case distinguishable from Seymour, wherein our supreme court found no evidence that the plaintiffs intended to deceive or mislead the bankruptcy court. In Seymour, the court found it significant that the plaintiffs had attempted to settle their personal injury claim while the bankruptcy proceedings were ongoing, noting that if the plaintiffs were trying to avoid creditors, "they would have waited until after the discharge in bankruptcy to attempt to settle [their personal injury] suit." Seymour, 2015 IL 118432, ¶ 59, 396 Ill.Dec. 135, 39 N.E.3d 961. That is exactly what Barnes did in this case. Although her counsel wrote the defendants shortly after the accident, Barnes does not allege that she attempted to settle the personal claim while the bankruptcy proceeding was pending; instead, she waited almost two years and filed her claim only after the discharge in bankruptcy (unlike the Seymour plaintiffs, who filed their claim while the bankruptcy was pending). Moreover, the plaintiffs in Seymour claimed that the bankruptcy trustee had advised them that they were only required to disclose "lump sum finds received in excess of $2,000" during the bankruptcy proceeding, which would not include their potential, unliquidated personal injury claim. They submitted an affidavit from the trustee attesting to this fact, and an affidavit from their bankruptcy counsel supporting their claim that they were not required to disclose the unliquidated personal injury action. Seymour, 2015 IL 118432, ¶¶ 10-14, 396 Ill.Dec. 135, 39 N.E.3d 961. Barnes makes no such allegations here. She does not claim that the trustee in her bankruptcy case said anything suggesting that Barnes was not required to disclose unliquidated legal claims. Moreover, she admits that she never even informed her bankruptcy attorney about her personal injury claim against the defendants. She also admits that she never informed her personal injury attorney about the bankruptcy proceeding. Thus,
¶ 26 Under these circumstances, the trial court could have reasonably found that Barnes's failure to disclose the claim during bankruptcy was deliberate rather than inadvertent. In fact, the record does not support a contrary inference, even when all reasonable inferences are drawn in Barnes's favor. Moreover, Barnes's deliberate concealment of her personal injury claim had a significant impact on the bankruptcy proceeding because a legal claim that Barnes asserts is worth in excess of $50,000 was never disclosed to Barnes's creditors, and Barnes succeeded in having more than $92,000 in unsecured debt discharged in bankruptcy. For these reasons, and because all of the prerequisites for judicial estoppel were met, the trial did not abuse its discretion in grating summary judgment for the defendants on the basis of judicial estoppel.
¶ 28 The judgment of the circuit court of Fulton County is affirmed.
¶ 29 Affirmed.
Justices McDade and Schmidt concurred in the judgment and opinion.