CATHY BISSOON, District Judge.
Pending before the Court is Appellee United States Department of Education ("Appellee")'s Motion to Dismiss Appeal (
On May 22, 2014, Appellant Craig Devon Murphy ("Appellant") filed for protection under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the "Code") at Bankruptcy Case Number 14-22073-CMB (the "Bankruptcy Case") in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. (Bankr. Doc. 1). Appellant commenced an adversary proceeding on July 15, 2014, at Adversary Proceeding Number 14-02155-CMB (the "Adversary Proceeding"), seeking to discharge approximately $149,041.00 in educational loan debt. (Adv. Doc. 1). On August 15, 2014, Appellee filed an answer to the complaint. (Adv. Doc. 15).
On March 31, 2015, Appellee filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and Concise Statement of Material Facts. (Adv. Docs. 70, 71 and 72). On April 16, 2015, Appellant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Support. (Adv. Doc. 79). On August 13, 2015, the Bankruptcy Court issued a Memorandum Opinion setting forth the factual background, the summary judgment standard, legal analysis, and its conclusion that Appellee's motion for summary judgment must be granted and Appellant's motion for summary judgment must be denied. (
(Adv. Doc. 100).
On August 31, 2015, the Adversary Proceeding was closed, and Appellant's Bankruptcy Case was closed on September 23, 2015. (Adv. Doc. 103).
On January 19, 2016, over five months after the Bankruptcy Court issued its August 13, 2015 Order, Appellant filed a Motion to Reopen and attempted, for the first time, to appeal the August 13, 2015 Order. (Adv. Docs. 104 & 105). In his Motion to Reopen, Appellant relied upon Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 5010 to have the Bankruptcy Case reopened for the purpose of appealing the August 13, 2015 Order. Appellant also filed a Motion to Recuse Judge on February 19, 2016. (Adv. Doc. 120). On April 7, 2016, the Bankruptcy Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order denying both the Motion to Recuse and the Motion to Reopen. (Adv. Docs. 132 & 133). Appellant did not appeal either Order. Instead, on April 18, 2016, Appellant filed a Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment. (Adv. Doc. 136). The Bankruptcy Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order on July 21, 2016, denying Appellant's Motion for Reconsideration, finding that there was no basis for reconsideration. (Adv. Docs. 146 and 147). The Bankruptcy Court stated that "[n]evertheless, the Clerk will transmit the Notice of Appeal." (
28 U.S.C. § 158 provides the statutory basis for the Court's jurisdiction over bankruptcy appeals. An appeal pursuant to § 158 must be taken in the same manner as an appeal in civil proceedings and in the time provided by Rule 8002 of the Bankruptcy Rules.
In
In this case, there is no question that Appellant's Notice of Appeal was not timely filed. The Bankruptcy Court entered an order resolving the adversary proceeding on August 13, 2015. Thus, pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8002(a), Appellant was required to file an appeal on or before August 27, 2015. Nonetheless, Appellant did not file a Notice of Appeal until five months later, on January 19, 2016. In his response brief, Appellant does not dispute that his Notice of Appeal was filed five months after the Bankruptcy Court entered its order resolving the adversary proceeding. Appellant argues, however, that his failure to timely file a Notice of Appeal was excusable because the Bankruptcy Court's August 13, 2015 Order is not a final order of judgment, and thus did not start the appeal clock. The Court disagrees.
A "judgment" is defined in the context of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as any decree or order from which an appeal lies. Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(a). A judgment should not include "recitals of pleadings, a master's report, or a record of prior proceedings," Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(a), and "must be set out in a separate document . . .," Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a). Furthermore, a court— including the Bankruptcy Court—"may direct entry of a final judgment as to one or more, but fewer than all, claims or parties only if the court expressly determines that there is no just reason for delay." Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). "In bankruptcy cases, finality is construed more broadly than for other types of civil cases."
Appellant makes several arguments to support his claim that the August 13, 2015 Order is not a final, appealable order, none of which has merit. First, Appellant argues that the August 13, 2015 Order does not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(a) because it contains "recitals of pleadings" and a "record of prior proceeding." (
Second, Appellant argues that the August 13, 2015 Order is not a final, appealable order because it "did not determine the amount of the liabilities owed to the Appellee." (
Third, Appellant argues that the August 13, 2015 Order is not final because the order, among other things, denied his Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 7 at 3). Appellant is correct that, had the August 13, 2015 Order merely denied his summary judgment motion, it would not have constituted a final judgment. However, the August 13, 2015 Order both denied Appellant's summary judgment motion
Fourth, Appellant claims that the August 13, 2015 Order is not final because it "failed to resolve all claims in the adversary proceeding in contravention to Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(a)(b)."
Finally, Appellant claims that the August 13, 2015 Order was not appealable "because the lower court failed to omit or substantially omit the reasons for disposing of the action in its order." Doc. 7 at 5 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 58). Once again, Appellant mischaracterizes the Bankruptcy Court's Order. The August 13, 2015 Order succinctly stated that Appellant's motion was denied, Appellee's motion was granted, the educational loan debt was not dischargeable and the order resolved the adversary proceeding. That Order was self-contained and separate from the Memorandum Opinion, it noted the relief granted and it omitted the reasoning for disposing of the claims.
In short, there is no basis to find that the August 13, 2015 Order was not a final, appealable order. Because Appellant failed to file his Notice of Appeal from that Order within the 14 days required under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy 8002(a), this Court lacks jurisdiction over this appeal.
For the reasons stated above, Appellee's Motion to Dismiss the Appeal (
IT IS SO ORDERED.