Supreme Court Holds that Denial of Confirmation of a Plan is Not an Appealable Final Order
On 5/4/15, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided, in case Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, Case No. 14-116, that a bankruptcy court’s order denying confirmation of a debtor’s proposed chapter 13 plan is not a final order that the debtor can immediately appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sect. 158(a)(1) and (d)(1). The Court resolved a split among the Courts of Appeals, adopting the majority view. Interestingly, the Court rejected the argument of the Solicitor General, who had joined the debtor in arguing that denial of plan confirmation should be treated as an appealable final order, just as confirmation of a plan is indisputably a final order. While the case involved a chapter 13 plan, the Court’s reasoning should be equally applicable to denial of a chapter 11 plan. Furthermore, Bullard will be compelling authority to deny immediate appeal of other important rulings during a case denying requested relief, most notably perhaps requests for extensions of time, which the Court singled out as being non-final and therefore not appealable without leave of court.
Posted on 5/4/15 on the American Bankruptcy Institute e-website, written by Prof. Charles J. Tabb of University of Illinois College of Law