B.j. Mcadams, Inc., on Behalf of the Bankruptcy Estate Ofb.j. Mcadams, Inc., Plaintiff-appellant, v. Gray & Company, an Oregon Corporation, Defendant-appellee, 19 F.3d 1439 (9th Cir. 1994)
Annotate this CaseBefore: BROWNING, KOZINSKI and NOONAN, Circuit Judges.
MEMORANDUM**
B.J. McAdams, Inc. appeals the district court's dismissal of its complaint against Gray & Company. Everyone agrees that the complaint should have named the trustee as the plaintiff. The issue is whether the district court should have granted leave to substitute the proper party pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 17.
The district court denied McAdams' Rule 17 motion to substitute the trustee as plaintiff because the bankruptcy court hadn't authorized the filing attorney's employment under 11 U.S.C. § 327 and Bankruptcy Rule 2014. These provisions apply, however, when the trustee "employ [s]" an attorney. Here, Messrs. Harris and Pfister were employed by Professional Truck Auditing, Inc. (PTA). See ER at 98, 99, 105. That any collection action they brought would, of necessity, be on behalf of the trustee, see 11 U.S.C. § 323, did not change the nature of their employment. PTA, after all, was footing their bill. ER 105. And their authority to sue on behalf of the trustee is clear. ER 33-34. Therefore, the district court erred in refusing leave to substitute the trustee as plaintiff under Rule 17.
REVERSED.
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