Roy v. Canadian Pacific Railway Co. ( 2021 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 17-1108
IN RE: LAC-MÉGANTIC TRAIN DERAILMENT LITIGATION
ANNICK ROY, as special administrator of the estate of Jean-Guy
Veilleux, deceased, individually and as next friend of minor,
F.R.V., ET AL.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY,
Defendant, Appellee,
SOO LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, d/b/a Canadian Pacific Railway;
DELAWARE AND HUDSON RAILROAD COMPANY INC., d/b/a Canadian
Pacific Railway; DAKOTA MINNESOTA AND EASTERN RAILROAD
CORPORATION, d/b/a Canadian Pacific Railway; and CANADIAN
PACIFIC RAILWAY LIMITED,
Putative Defendants.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE
[Hon. Jon D. Levy, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Lynch and Selya, Circuit Judges,
and Katzmann,* Judge.
* Of the United States Court of International Trade, sitting
by designation.
Matthew W.H. Wessler, with whom Gregory A. Beck, Larkin
Turner, Gupta Wessler PLLC, Ted A. Meyers, Peter J. Flowers, Craig
D. Brown, Meyers & Flowers LLC, Jason C. Webster, The Webster Law
Firm, Mitchell A. Toups, and Weller, Green, Toups & Terrell, LLP
were on brief, for appellants.
Paul J. Hemming, with whom Leah Ceee O. Boomsma, Taft
Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Mark F. Rosenberg, and Sullivan &
Cromwell LLP were on brief, for appellee.
June 2, 2021
SELYA, Circuit Judge. This appeal requires us to decide,
as a matter of first impression in this circuit, whether the
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (the Bankruptcy Rules) or
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (the Civil Rules) govern cases
that have come within the federal district court's jurisdiction as
cases "related to" a pending bankruptcy proceeding. 28 U.S.C.
§ 1334(b). We conclude, as have the relative handful of other
courts of appeals that have addressed the question, that the
Bankruptcy Rules control.
This conclusion has a domino effect and, when put into
context, determines the outcome of this appeal. Under Bankruptcy
Rule 9023, the plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration was late
and, thus, did not stop the accrual of the appeal period. In the
absence of tolling, the plaintiffs' ensuing notice of appeal was
untimely and, therefore, their appeal must be dismissed for want
of appellate jurisdiction. The tale follows.
I
We sketch the relevant facts and travel of the case.
The plaintiffs who are appellants here, listed in Appendix A,
brought thirty-nine separate suits against a number of defendants
in the wake of a tragic derailment and explosion in Lac-Mégantic,
Canada, which caused many deaths, extensive personal injuries, and
large-scale property damage. For present purposes, it suffices to
say that in June of 2013, a Canadian refinery arranged for a
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transnational shipment of crude oil from North Dakota; a number of
railroad companies participated in the shipment of the purchased
oil across the midwestern United States and into Canada;
responsibility for the rail cars in which the oil was transported
was eventually assumed by Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway
(MMA); and the derailment occurred on July 6, 2013 (on MMA's
watch).1
MMA sought the protection of the bankruptcy court in the
District of Maine. In and out of Maine, lawsuits proliferated.
These civil actions were instituted in several different
jurisdictions. The plaintiffs' wrongful death suits were filed in
state courts in Illinois and Texas. In due course, they were
removed to federal district courts, some pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1334(b) and some pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).
Defendant-appellee Canadian Pacific Railway Company
(Canadian Pacific) was not among the defendants originally named
in the plaintiffs' initial suits. The plaintiffs subsequently
joined Canadian Pacific — allegedly a connecting carrier — as an
additional defendant. Canadian Pacific has consistently
1The reader who desires further detail concerning the
derailment and its horrific aftermath may consult earlier judicial
opinions regarding various aspects of MMA's bankruptcy
proceedings. See, e.g., In re Montreal, Me. & Atl. Ry., Ltd., 956
F.3d 1, 2-3 (1st Cir. 2020); In re Montreal Me. & Atl. Ry., Ltd.,
No. 13-10670, 2015 WL 3604335, at *1 (D. Me. Jun. 8, 2015); In re
Montreal Me. & Atl. Ry., Ltd., 574 B.R. 381, 384-85 (Bankr. D. Me.
2017).
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maintained that it was not properly served with process in these
actions.
In February of 2016, the plaintiffs — along with MMA's
trustee in bankruptcy — petitioned the United States District Court
for the District of Maine for an order transferring the cases to
that district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(5), which allows a
district court having jurisdiction over a bankruptcy proceeding to
order the transfer to it of any "personal injury tort and wrongful
death claims" related to the bankruptcy proceeding. The court
below concluded that transfer was appropriate and later
centralized all of the plaintiffs' suits in the District of Maine.
The court then created an omnibus docket captioned "In Re Lac-
Mégantic Train Derailment Litigation," which became an umbrella
docket for a wide swath of third-party claims (including the
plaintiffs' suits).
After further jousting (not relevant here), the
plaintiffs sought dismissal of their claims against all of the
named defendants except Canadian Pacific. The district court
granted this request pursuant to a settlement agreement that was
part of MMA's plan of liquidation, which the district court had
confirmed on November 18, 2015. See In re Montreal Me. & Atl.
Ry., Ltd., No. 1:15-mc-329, 2015 WL 7302223 (D. Me. Nov. 18, 2015);
see also In re Montreal Me. & Atl. Ry., Ltd., Bk. No. 13-10670,
2015 WL 7431192 (Bankr. D. Me. Oct. 9, 2015) (recommending approval
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of plan of liquidation). This left Canadian Pacific as the lone
defendant in the plaintiffs' suits.
Canadian Pacific moved to dismiss the plaintiffs'
consolidated complaint, asserting (among other things) lack of in
personam jurisdiction, insufficient service of process, and forum
non conveniens. The plaintiffs countered by moving for leave to
file a second amended complaint, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a), in
which they sought to add as defendants several Canadian Pacific
subsidiaries based in the United States, including Soo Line
Railroad Company (Soo Line). On September 28, 2016, the district
court granted Canadian Pacific's motion to dismiss on
jurisdictional grounds and denied the plaintiffs' motion to amend.
The court denied all other pending motions as moot and entered
final judgment in favor of Canadian Pacific.
On October 26, 2016 — twenty-eight days after the
district court entered final judgment for Canadian Pacific — the
plaintiffs moved for reconsideration in the district court of the
denial of their motion to file an amended complaint. See Fed. R.
Civ. P. 59(e). They annexed a proposed "Revised Second Amended
Complaint" that sought, as relevant here, to substitute Soo Line
for Canadian Pacific as the party defendant. Canadian Pacific
opposed the motion on a number of grounds, including timeliness.
With respect to that ground, it argued that the Bankruptcy Rules
controlled and that, therefore, the motion for reconsideration
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came too late. See Fed. R. Bank. P. 9023 (allowing a fourteen-
day window for motions for reconsideration). In a margin order,
the district court summarily denied reconsideration.
On January 19, 2017, the plaintiffs filed this notice of
appeal, purporting to challenge the denial of the motion for leave
to amend. Roughly three months later, Canadian Pacific filed a
motion for summary disposition under First Circuit Local Rule
27(c), arguing that the plaintiffs' untimely motion for
reconsideration lacked tolling effect and, thus, rendered the
appeal untimely. The plaintiffs opposed this motion. On February
6, 2019, we denied the motion and set a briefing schedule. Oral
arguments were heard on March 3, 2021.
II
In this venue, the plaintiffs argue that we have
appellate jurisdiction and maintain that the district court abused
its discretion when it denied their motion for leave to amend the
complaint. Canadian Pacific, though, continues to press a
threshold issue: it contends that we lack appellate jurisdiction
because the plaintiffs' notice of appeal was untimely. This
contention is premised on two interlocking assertions. To begin,
Canadian Pacific asserts that the plaintiffs' motion for
reconsideration, which was made outside the fourteen-day window
prescribed by the Bankruptcy Rules for such motions, see Fed. R.
Bank. P. 9023, did not toll the running of the appeal period, see
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Fed. R. App. P. 4(a) (specifying that in civil cases not involving
the United States, notices of appeal must be filed within thirty
days after the entry of judgment). Building on this foundation,
Canadian Pacific asserts that the plaintiffs' notice of appeal,
which was filed more than three months after the entry of final
judgment and which did not enjoy the benefit of tolling, was
untimely. We agree that the plaintiffs are unable to cross this
threshold and, thus, our inquiry stops there.
We need not tarry. Federal courts are courts of limited
jurisdiction and, in the absence of jurisdiction, a federal court
is "powerless to act." Am. Fiber & Finishing, Inc. v. Tyco
Healthcare Grp., 362 F.3d 136, 138 (1st Cir. 2004). It follows
that we must rigorously patrol the boundaries of our appellate
jurisdiction. See Commonwealth Sch., Inc. v. Commonwealth Acad.
Holdings LLC, 994 F.3d 77, 82 (1st Cir. 2021); Whitfield v. Mun.
of Fajardo, 564 F.3d 40, 44 (1st Cir. 2009). If we find
jurisdiction lacking, that is the end of the matter.
Here, the existence of appellate jurisdiction turns
principally on the answer to the following question: do the
Bankruptcy Rules or the Civil Rules govern the procedures in a
case over which a federal court exercises section 1334(b)
jurisdiction as one "related to" a pending bankruptcy proceeding?
This question is outcome-determinative because even though the two
sets of rules are congruent in many respects, they sometimes
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differ. One such difference is crucial here: the Bankruptcy Rules
only allow fourteen days for the filing of a motion to reconsider,
see Fed. R. Bank. P. 9023, whereas the Civil Rules allow twenty-
eight days for that purpose, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e). And under
either set of rules, only a timely motion for reconsideration tolls
the running of the appeal period. See Fed. R. Bank. P.
8002(b)(1)(B); Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(4)(A)(iv); see also García-
Velázquez v. Frito Lay Snacks Caribbean, 358 F.3d 6, 9 (1st Cir.
2004) ("An untimely motion for reconsideration . . . will not toll
the running of the notice of appeal period."). The plaintiffs'
motion to reconsider, filed on October 26, 2016, was timely if the
Civil Rules controlled but untimely if the Bankruptcy Rules
controlled.
To answer this dispositive question, we first review the
bankruptcy system and certain historical developments that
contributed to its current configuration. We then attempt to
untangle the intertwined strands that encase the determination of
which set of rules applies to "related to" cases pending in a
federal district court.
A
Our starting point is Congress's passage of the
Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (BRA), which created the modern
bankruptcy system. Prior to that date, federal district courts
exercised plenary jurisdiction over all bankruptcy matters, with
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the help of subalterns designated as referees in bankruptcy. See
Bankruptcy Act of 1898, Pub. L. No. 55-541, §§ 2, 33, 30 Stat.
544, 545-46 (1898). These referees acted much as special masters
and resolved bankruptcy matters subject to the district court's
review. See id.The BRA abolished the referee system and established in
its place a federal bankruptcy court attached to each federal
judicial district. The bankruptcy courts were Article I courts,
endowed by Congress with jurisdiction to resolve matters "arising
under title 11 or arising in or related to cases under title 11."
28 U.S.C. § 1471(b), (c) (repealed 1984). But this new system hit
a speed bump in 1982: the Supreme Court concluded that Congress's
efforts to endow Article I bankruptcy courts with the ability to
adjudicate matters that were merely "related to" claims arising
under title 11 violated Article III. See N. Pipeline Constr. Co.
v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50, 86-87 (1982); see also
U.S. Const. art. III. The Court drew a distinction between cases
arising under title 11 of the United States Code (which implicated
rights of congressional creation) and "related to" cases (which
often implicated claims arising under state law independent of
title 11). See Marathon, 458 U.S. at 84-85. The latter group of
cases, the Court reasoned, could not be resolved by Article I
judges, who did not enjoy the protections embedded in Article III
of the Constitution. See id. at 60.
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In the last analysis, Marathon was a judicial
repudiation of Congress's attempt to confer upon Article I courts
broad jurisdiction over all cases loosely connected to title 11
claims. Aware that its decision would lead to the dismantling of
the recently created bankruptcy system, the Court stayed its
judgment for several months so that Congress could pick up the
pieces. See id. at 88. The stay expired without agreement on how
to reconfigure the system in a post-Marathon world.
After several years in which federal district courts
operated under makeshift rules,2 Congress finally passed the
Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 (BAFJA).
See Pub. L. No. 98-353, 98 Stat. 333 (1984). Among other things,
BAFJA sought to ameliorate the jurisdictional infirmities
pinpointed by the Marathon Court. Under the aegis of the new
statute, district courts (not bankruptcy courts) could exercise
jurisdiction over both bankruptcy cases arising under title 11 and
those "related to" title 11 cases. 28 U.S.C. § 1334. Withal, a
2 The Judicial Conference of the United States proposed the
model emergency rule, in anticipation of the stay's expiration, in
September of 1982. See Report of the Proceedings of the Judicial
Conference of the United States, 91 (Sept. 22-23, 1982). Each
federal district court proceeded to adopt its own version of the
model rule, as a placeholder. For a full discussion of this
history, the interested reader may consult Lawrence P. King, The
Unmaking of a Bankruptcy Court: Aftermath of Northern Pipeline v.
Marathon, 40 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 99, 115-16 (1983).
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district court could refer any such case to a bankruptcy court if
it so elected. See 28 U.S.C. § 157(a).
In line with 28 U.S.C. § 13343 and the teachings of
Marathon, the procedures governing the new system distinguish
between "core" and "non-core" cases and identify different final
decisionmakers for each. 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)-(c). With respect to
core cases (that is, those cases arising under title 11),
bankruptcy courts may issue final orders. See id. § 157(b)(1).
But with respect to non-core cases (that is, those cases "related
to" core cases), a bankruptcy court may do no more than submit
proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the district
court, subject to de novo review. See id. § 157(c)(1).
It is beyond cavil that, in enacting BAFJA, Congress
carefully distinguished between core and non-core cases to address
the jurisdictional concerns that the Marathon Court had
identified. That distinction informs our determination of which
set of procedural rules — the Bankruptcy Rules or the Civil Rules
Section 1334 declares that federal district courts have
3
"original and exclusive jurisdiction of all cases under title 11"
as well as "original but not exclusive jurisdiction of all civil
proceedings arising under title 11, or arising in or related to
cases under title 11." 28 U.S.C. § 1334(a)-(b). Although section
1334 delineates two different categories of cases for
jurisdictional purposes, it does not employ the core/non-core
taxonomy found in section 157. See text infra. Even so, that
taxonomy has become entrenched in federal law: cases arising under
title 11 are core cases and "related to" cases are non-core cases.
See, e.g., Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462, 474-77 (2011); Gupta
v. Quincy Med. Ctr., 858 F.3d 657, 662 n.5 (1st Cir. 2017).
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— governs the adjudication of a non-core, "related to" case in a
federal district court.
Precedent favors the Bankruptcy Rules: all three of the
courts of appeals to have considered the issue have concluded that
the Bankruptcy Rules apply to a non-core, "related to" case pending
in a federal forum. See In re Celotex Corp., 124 F.3d 619, 629
(4th Cir. 1997) (holding that "[t]he entire body of Bankruptcy
Rules . . . applies to" such cases); Phar-Mor, Inc. v. Coopers &
Lybrand, 22 F.3d 1228, 1238 (3d Cir. 1994) (holding that
"Bankruptcy Rules govern non-core, 'related to' proceedings before
a district court"); Diamond Mortg. Corp. of Ill. v. Sugar, 913
F.2d 1233, 1243 (7th Cir. 1990) (concluding that "nothing in the
literal terms of the pertinent [Bankruptcy] rules . . . even
remotely suggests that they are to be applied differently in core
and non-core proceedings"); cf. Double Eagle Energy Servs., L.L.C.
v. MarkWest Utica EMG, L.L.C., 936 F.3d 260, 264 (5th Cir. 2019)
(finding Bankruptcy Rule 7004 applicable to "related to" case
arising under state law). The leading treatise in the bankruptcy
field also endorses this view. See 9 Collier on Bankruptcy
¶ 1001.01 (16th ed. 2016) (stating that both in the district court
and the bankruptcy court, Bankruptcy Rules apply to "proceedings
arising in or related to [core] cases"). It is against the
backdrop of this emerging consensus that we turn to the question
at hand.
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B
We look first to the Bankruptcy Rules themselves — as we
do in the case of any rules promulgated pursuant to a statute —
for guidance in ascertaining the scope of their applicability.
See United States v. Bauzó-Santiago, 867 F.3d 13, 18 (1st Cir.
2017). By their own terms, the Bankruptcy Rules "govern procedure
in cases under title 11 of the United States Code." Fed. R. Bank.
P. 1001. The question, then, is whether non-core, "related to"
cases — like the plaintiffs' suits — are deemed to be cases under
title 11.
Read in isolation, the language of Rule 1001 is not
dispositive of this question. The phrase "under title 11 of the
United States Code" does not precisely mirror the definition of
core and non-core cases found in 28 U.S.C. § 157, and the phrase
itself — standing alone — does not compel either a broad or a
narrow reading. Section 157 describes core cases as those "arising
under title 11," yet Rule 1001 omits the word "arising." It is
difficult to say whether this omission was meant to signal a
distinction or was merely a product of inartful drafting.
We think it important that this version of Rule 1001 was
adopted in 1987 — well after Congress enacted BAFJA. Thus, the
drafters of the rule must have been aware of the core/non-core
dichotomy that Congress created. Had the drafters wished to
restrict the applicability of the Bankruptcy Rules to core cases
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alone, they simply could have used section 157's definition of
core cases. The fact that the drafters took a different tack
suggests that the language employed should be read more broadly.
Cf. Ross v. Blake, 136 S. Ct. 1850, 1858 (2016) ("When Congress
amends legislation, courts must 'presume it intends [the change]
to have real and substantial effect.'" (quoting Stone v. INS, 514
U.S. 386, 397 (1995))).
Further support for a broad reading of Rule 1001 and the
phrase "under title 11" is found in section 157 itself. The
statutory text provides that "[b]ankruptcy judges may hear and
determine all cases under title 11 and all core proceedings arising
under title 11 . . . ." 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(1). This language
suggests that Congress envisioned a difference between "cases
under title 11" and core cases. Such a conclusion follows from
the venerable principle that, whenever possible, courts should
construe statutes to give meaning to each word or phrase. See
Gustafson v. Alloyd Co., 513 U.S. 561, 574 (1995); Akebia
Therapeutics, Inc. v. Azar, 976 F.3d 86, 94 (1st Cir. 2020).
Applying this principle, the fact that "cases under title 11"
appears in addition to core cases "arising under title 11" lends
credence to the view that these are two distinct (albeit
overlapping) categories of cases. If both phrases were intended
to define the same universe of cases, there would have been no
point in Congress using two phrases and joining them with a
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conjunction. And although this juxtaposition does not compel a
conclusion that non-core, "related to" cases fall within the "under
title 11" taxonomy employed by the drafters of the Bankruptcy
Rules, it surely leaves that door wide open. See Phar-Mor, 22
F.3d at 1237 n.14 (explaining that, even though this phraseology
does not "clearly encompass[] 'related to' cases, . . . it does
not foreclose the possibility").
While our analysis to this point strongly suggests that
the procedural aspects of non-core, "related to" cases adjudicated
in federal district courts are governed by the Bankruptcy Rules,
the sockdolager is found in the practicalities attendant to the
efficient operation of the modern bankruptcy system. If the Civil
Rules applied to non-core cases, a district court adjudicating
both core and non-core cases in any given bankruptcy proceeding
would need to apply two different sets of rules simultaneously.
This anomaly would persist despite the fact that those cases likely
would involve some of the same parties. So, too, a district court,
reviewing a bankruptcy court's proposed findings of fact and
conclusions of law in a non-core case, see 28 U.S.C. § 157(c)(1),
would be bound to apply the Civil Rules after the bankruptcy court
already had applied the Bankruptcy Rules. This curious twist would
render nugatory Bankruptcy Rule 9033(d), which directs the
district court to conduct de novo review of a bankruptcy court's
findings and conclusions. Such a convoluted procedural scheme
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would be in marked tension with the bankruptcy system's goal of
resolving claims efficiently. See 98th Cong. Rec. S7620 (daily
ed. Jun. 19, 1984) (statement of Sen. Dennis DeConcini) (explaining
that proposed legislation sought "to balance effective bankruptcy
administration with the constitutional concerns reflected in the
Marathon decision"); see also Report of the Commission on the
Bankruptcy Laws of the United States, 93d Cong. H.R. Doc. No. 93-
137, pt. I, 2-5 (July 1973).
With such anomalies in mind, at least two of our sister
circuits have explicitly warned against the procedural hybrid that
would result from applying the Civil Rules to non-core, "related
to" cases in federal district courts. See Phar-Mor, 22 F.3d at
1236-37; Diamond Mortg., 913 F.2d at 1243. As Judge Becker
observed, such a hybrid would be "incompatible with the efficient
disposition of bankruptcy cases," which was "the animating policy
underlying the BAFJA." Phar-Mor, 22 F.3d at 1237. Similarly,
Judge Cudahy noted that it would be "anomalous" for different rules
to govern claims in the same court, given "the bankruptcy scheme's
emphasis on centralization and efficiency." Diamond Mortg., 913
F.2d at 1243. We, too, think it implausible that Congress could
have intended to create such a Rube-Goldberg-like adjudicative
contraption. We cannot imagine any reason why Congress would
authorize jurisdiction for core and non-core cases in the same
judicial district, see 28 U.S.C. 1334(b), but require the district
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court to apply a different set of rules to each. Such a step would
be at cross-purposes with the drafter's admonition that the
Bankruptcy Rules "shall be construed . . . to secure the just,
speedy, and inexpensive determination of every case and
proceeding." Fed. R. Bank. P. 1001.
This view is reinforced by the fact that the very
existence of "related to" jurisdiction speaks to the efficiency
goals of the bankruptcy system. "Related to" jurisdiction is
designed to put everything in the same place and, thus, facilitates
the efficient disposition of claims. See In re G.S.F. Corp., 938
F.2d 1467, 1475 (1st Cir. 1991) (explaining that a case is "related
to" a bankruptcy proceeding if its resolution "could conceivably
have any effect on the estate being administered in bankruptcy")
(emphasis supplied) (internal quotation omitted). It seems
obvious to us that the best way to effectuate this goal is for
"both the bankruptcy judges and the district court judges [to]
apply the same set of procedural rules in all proceedings having
a nexus to a bankruptcy case." Phar-Mor, 22 F.3d at 1237.
That Congress took great care to preserve uniformity and
efficiency in other areas of the Bankruptcy Rules is consistent
with our appraisal of Congress's overarching goal. In Diamond
Mortgage, for example, the court considered whether a particular
service-of-process requirement in the Bankruptcy Rules applied to
a non-core, "related to" case. See 913 F.2d at 1242-43. The court
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concluded that creating mismatched procedural rules for core and
non-core cases would serve only to frustrate BAFJA's objective of
simplifying the bankruptcy system. See id. at 1243. The court
found it telling that the drafters of the Bankruptcy Rules have
made no effort to distinguish between core and non-core cases with
respect to the service-of-process requirement. See id.Similar reasoning can be applied to the facts at hand.
Just as the drafters of the Bankruptcy Rules made no explicit
distinction between core and non-core cases in formulating the
service-of-process rule, they made no such distinction in
formulating Rule 1001. And here — as in the Diamond Mortgage
scenario — the drafters were aware of BAFJA's core/non-core
distinction but eschewed that distinction when drafting Rule 1001.
We also recognize that 28 U.S.C. § 2075, which empowers
Congress to authorize bankruptcy rules proposed by the judiciary,
places primacy in the United States Code. Accordingly, any
conflict between a statutory provision and the Bankruptcy Rules
would have to be resolved in favor of the former.4 See 9 Collier
on Bankruptcy ¶ 1001.01 ("In the event of inconsistency between
the statute and the rules, the statute controls."). Here, however,
4 This hierarchy does not have deep historical roots. Prior
to 1978, the statute provided that "[a]ll laws in conflict with
such rules shall be of no further force or effect after such rules
have taken effect." 28 U.S.C. § 2075 (1964). But Congress amended
the statute in 1978, deleting that sentence. See 28 U.S.C. § 2075(1978).
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we see no conflict between BAFJA and a broad construction of Rule
1001.
The plaintiffs have a fallback position. They strive to
persuade us that a district court, presiding over a non-core,
"related to" case, may choose to apply either the Civil Rules or
the Bankruptcy Rules. We are not convinced: such a pick-and-
choose approach cannot be gleaned from the statutory text, the
Bankruptcy Rules, the Civil Rules, or any combination of those
sources. To cinch the matter, the plaintiffs' position finds no
purchase in the case law.
We begin by noting that the plaintiffs' argument is
incompatible with the text of the Civil Rules. Congress expressly
provided that the Civil Rules only apply to bankruptcy cases "to
the extent provided by the [Bankruptcy Rules]." Fed. R. Civ. P.
81(a)(2). This provision would make no sense if the plaintiffs'
expansive notion of the district court's discretion was correct,
and the canons of statutory interpretation do not favor
constructions that reduce words or phrases within a statute to
mere gibberish. See Nat'l Ass'n of Mfrs. v. Dep't of Def., 138 S.
Ct. 617, 632 (2018) (explaining that "the Court is 'obliged to
give effect, if possible, to every word Congress used'" (quoting
Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330, 339 (1979))).
What is more, nothing in either section 157 or Rule 1001
indicates that a district court has any discretion as to which set
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of rules applies in a given case. If district courts were to be
accorded this considerable latitude, we think that either Congress
or the drafters of the Bankruptcy Rules would have said as much.
Read naturally, section 157 instructs that the Civil Rules stop
where the Bankruptcy Rules begin — a proposition that is antithetic
to the plaintiffs' pick-and-choose approach.
We add, moreover, that the plaintiffs misconstrue the
case law that they cobble together in support of the pick-and-
choose approach. Contrary to the plaintiffs' representation,
Diamond Mortgage says nothing about discretion: that case merely
holds that if a court determines that the Bankruptcy Rules apply,
it then "must determine the proper procedures to be followed in
the case." 913 F.2d at 1241. The court's statement that district
courts "may apply the Bankruptcy Rules in appropriate cases," id.,is not a commentary on the exercise of discretion in a particular
case but, rather, an affirmation that Congress, by enacting BAFJA,
enabled district courts to hear bankruptcy cases and apply the
Bankruptcy Rules.5
5 The plaintiffs' efforts to siphon out particular language
from other cases is no more helpful. None of those cases, see
Rosenberg v. DVI Receivables XIV, LLC, 818 F.3d 1283 (11th Cir.
2016); Phar-Mor, 22 F.3d 1228, stands for the proposition that
district courts have discretion to pick and choose whether to apply
the Civil Rules or the Bankruptcy Rules in non-core, "related to"
cases.
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Laboring to turn dross into gold, the plaintiffs note
that the court below alluded to the Civil Rules on several
occasions. That is true as far as it goes — but it does not take
the plaintiffs very far. The Bankruptcy Rules incorporate many of
the Civil Rules, see, e.g., Fed. R. Bank. P. 7002, and the
plaintiffs have not pointed to any occasion when the court below
purposed to address the question of which set of rules applied to
the matters before it. And while greater clarity on the part of
district courts is always to be applauded, a lack of clarity on
the district court's part does not vitiate our obligation to
determine which set of rules applies in this case.
In a variation on this theme, the plaintiffs try to spin
this lack of clarity as unfairly sandbagging them. They suggest
that they had no notice that the Bankruptcy Rules were controlling.
On this record, there is no room for an equitable exception to the
quintessentially legal determination of which set of rules applies
to a particular case. Cf. Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214
(2007) (holding that federal courts have "no authority to create
equitable exceptions to jurisdictional requirements" such as the
"timely filing of a notice of appeal").
Here, moreover, the plaintiffs' notice-based concerns
ring hollow. After all, the plaintiffs joined in the request to
transfer their cases from other federal courts to the District of
Maine as cases "related to" a pending bankruptcy proceeding within
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the purview of 28 U.S.C. § 157(b).6 At that time, the existing
case law, though sparse, put them squarely on notice that the
Bankruptcy Rules would apply. See Celotex, 124 F.3d at 629; Phar-
Mor, 22 F.3d at 1238; Diamond Mortg., 913 F.2d at 1241. And the
leading treatise on bankruptcy law reinforced this conclusion.
See 9 Collier on Bankruptcy, ¶ 1001.01 ("Scope of Rule 1001").
Given this legal landscape, the plaintiffs scarcely can be heard
to complain that they were not on notice that the Bankruptcy Rules
likely would apply to the transferred cases.
We need go no further.7 The text of the Bankruptcy
Rules, read in conjunction with Congress's redesign of the
bankruptcy system in 1984, makes pellucid that the Bankruptcy Rules
apply to non-core, "related to" cases adjudicated in federal
district courts under section 1334(b)'s "related to" jurisdiction.
We so hold. To rule otherwise would not only create a split in
the circuits and leave district courts in a procedural labyrinth
6 Indeed, many of the plaintiffs' suits originally had been
removed from state courts to federal district courts under the
auspices of 28 U.S.C. § 1334(b).
7 To be sure, it might be open to the plaintiffs to argue that
even if their appeal is untimely with respect to the denial of
their motion to amend, it is nonetheless timely with respect to
the denial of their motion for reconsideration. See Air Line
Pilots Ass'n v. Precision Valley Aviation, Inc., 26 F.3d 220, 223-
24 (1st Cir. 1994). Before us, however, they have not made that
argument, so it is waived. See United States v. Zannino, 895 F.2d
1, 17 (1st Cir. 1990).
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but also would severely undermine Congress's efficiency-oriented
goals.
III
Our holding that the Bankruptcy Rules govern the
procedural aspects of this case ends the matter.8 On these facts,
Bankruptcy Rule 9023 demands a finding that the plaintiffs' motion
to reconsider was untimely and, therefore, the deadline for filing
a notice of appeal expired thirty days after the district court
entered final judgment on September 28, 2016. See Fed. R. App. P.
4(a). Consequently, the plaintiffs' attempted appeal is untimely
and must be dismissed for want of appellate jurisdiction. All
parties shall bear their own costs.
So Ordered.
8 Although the parties have briefed and argued other issues
pertaining both to jurisdiction and to the merits, our holding
makes it unnecessary to address them. See, e.g., Vaquería Tres
Monjitas, Inc. v. Comas-Pagán, 772 F.3d 956, 960 (1st Cir. 2014);
Deniz v. Mun. of Guaynabo, 285 F.3d 142, 149-50 (1st Cir. 2002).
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Appendix A
Roster of Plaintiffs-Appellants
Annick Roy, as special administrator of the estate of Jean-Guy
Veilleux, deceased, individually and as next friend of minor,
F.R.V.; Samuel Audet; Beland Audet; Emanuel Baillargeon; Sandra
Baillargeon; Jean Boyle Barrett Beaudoin; Gabriel Beaudoin;
Jocelyn Beaudoin; Raymond Beaudoin; Yves Bernier; Gerard Bolduc;
Marie Claude Bouchard; Michel Bouchard; Suzie Bouchard; Pierrette
Boucher Lafontaine; Rouville Boucher; Michel Boulanger; Daniel
Boule; Pierre Boulet; Pierrette Boulet; Helene Bourgeois; Ghislain
Champagne; Line Champagne; Denis Charest; Pascal Charest; Daniel
Charrier; Sylvain Cote; Annette Doyon; Denise Dubois; Martial
Dupiuis; Serge Faucher; Yves Faucher; Lea Favreau; France Fortier;
Yannick Gagne; Daniel Gendron; Melanie Gerhard; Gravure Megantic;
Mario Grimard; Group Exca Inc.; Nancy Guay; Eric Joubert; Jeannot
Labrecque; Danielle Lachance; Lucille Lachance; Pierrette
Lachance; Sylvie Lacroix; Angelique Lafontaine; Anna Lafontaine;
Christian Lafontaine; Clement Lafontaine; Exca Lafontaine;
Jonathan Lafontaine; Josie Lafontaine; Lisa Lafontaine; Luc
Lafontaine; Marilou Lafontaine; Rosemary Lafontaine; Louise
Lajeunesse; Guillaume Lapierre; Henriette Latulippe; Marcel
Lavoie; Mayla; Marche Valiquette Ltee; Josee Morin; Clement Pepin;
Yannick Pepin; France Picard; Louisette Picard; Mathieu Picard;
Claude Plante; Manon Rodrigue; Doris Roy; Garage Jean Roy; Jean-
Guy Roy; Ginette Roy; Julie Roy; Services Esthtiques Malya; Bernard
St-Hilaire; Billy Turcotte; Celine Turcotte; Marc Vachon; Louise
Valiquette; Philippe Valiquette; Rene Boutin; Sophie Boutin;
Roxanne Boutin; Caroline Tremblay, individually and as
representative of the estate of Guy Buldoc, deceased; as next
friend of S.B., a minor; and as next friend of A-C.B., a minor;
Jacques Bolduc; Solange Gaudreault; Mario Bolduc; Cynthia Boule,
individually and as representative of the estate of Sylvie Charron,
deceased; and as next friend of A.B., a minor; Jean-Guy Boule;
Therese Pouliot, individually and as representative of the estate
of Real Custeau, deceased; Simon Custeau, individually and as next
friend of J.C., a minor; Sonia Pepin; Richard Custeau; Sylvie
Custeau, individually and as representative of the estate of
Suzanne Custeau, deceased; Michael Custeau; Karine Lafontaine;
Rejean Custeau; Claude Turmel; Kathleen Bedard; Kim Turmel,
individually and as next friend of A.L., a minor; as next friend
of M.L., a minor; as next friend of L-A.N., a minor; and as next
friend of E.N., a minor; Josee Bolduc; Vincent Nadeau; Guylaine
St-Laurent, as representative of the estate of Natachat Gaudreau,
deceased; Joanie Turmel; Chantal Gaudreau; Francois Poulin,
individually and as representative of the estate of Lucie Vadnais,
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deceased; Estel Blanchet; Sylvie Vadnais; Pauline Theberge;
Elisabeth Vadnais; Diane Giroux Rodrigue, as representative of the
estate of Jacques Giroux, deceased; Marie-Eve Poulin; Andre
Giroux; Serge Morin, individually and as co-representative of the
estate of Kaven Morin, deceased; Raymond Lapointe; Nancy Ducharme,
individually and as co-representative of the estate of Kaven Morin,
deceased; Joannie Lapointe; Kathleen Morin; Lucie Boutin; Michael
Vallerand; Genevieve Breton; Ginette Dostie; Taxi Megantic ENR;
Fiducie Familiale Francois Jacques, individually and on behalf of
the estate of Dominik Leblanc; Societe de Gestion Jean-Pierre
Jacques Inc.; Dube Equipment de Bureau Inc.; 9020-1468 Quebec Inc.;
Via Beaute Sante ENR; Bolduc Chaussures LTE; Clinique Dentaire
Marie-Pier Dube Inc.; Michel Charland; Societe En Commandite
Projet Shier; Jean Vadnais; Isabelle Beaudry; Clermont Pepin, as
special administrator of the estate of Eric Pepin-Lajeunesse,
deceased; Pascal Lafontaine, as special administrator of the
estate of Karine LaFontaine, deceased; Louise Couture; Mario
Sevigny; Marc-Antoine Sevigny; Louise Breton; Ginette Cameron;
Manon Bolduc; Sandy Bedard, as special administrator of the estate
of Michel Guertin, Jr.; Herbert Ratsch, as special administrator
of the estate of Willfried Heinz Ratsch, deceased; Genevieve Dube;
Michelle Gaboury, as special administrator of the estate of Kevin
Roy, deceased; Gaston Begnoche, as special administrator of the
estate of Talitha Coumi Begnoche, deceased; Dave Lapierre; Marie-
Eve Lapierre; Lisette Bolduc; Steve Bolduc; Maude Faucher; Karine
Paquet; Guy Paquet, as special administrators of the estate of
Roger Paquet, deceased; Jacques Martin; Solange Belanger, as
special administrator of the estate of Jimmy Sirois, deceased; Guy
Boulet; Elise Dubois-Couture, as special administrator of the
estate of David LaCroix-Beaudoin, deceased; Lily Rodrigue; Rejean
Roy, as special administrator of the estate of Mlissa Roy,
deceased; Alexia Dumas-Chaput, as special administrator of the
estate of Mathieu Pelletier, deceased; Theresa Poulan Dubois, as
special administrator of the estate of Denise Dubois, deceased;
Christiane Mercier, as special administrator of the estate of
Marianne Poulin, deceased; Robert Picard; Justine Lapointe; Eric
Bilodeau, as special administrator of the estate of Karine
Champagne, deceased; Micheline Veilleux; Richard Turcotte, as
special administrator of the estate of Elodie Turcotte, deceased;
Marie-Josee Grimard, as special administrator of the estate of
Henriette Latulippe, deceased; Alaine Bizier, individually and as
representative of the estate of Diane Bizier, deceased; Steve Roy,
individually and on behalf of minor Y.R.; Isabelle Boulanger,
individually and as representative of the estate of Frederic
Boutin, deceased; Colette Lacroix Boulet; Joanne Proteau, as
special administrator of the estate of Maxime Dubois, deceased;
Gabrielle Lapointe; Helen Lynn Barrett Beaudoin; Malya; Pierre
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Picard; Boutique de la Gare Inc.
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