Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

216 U.S. 115

30 S. Ct. 377

54 L. Ed. 407

Docket No. 238.

Elkus

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued November 29, 1909.

Decided February 21, 1910.

Supreme Court of the United States · decided 1910-02-21

<p>CERTIFICATE FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT-OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT.</p> <p>The facts are stated in the opinion.</p>

2 counsel of record

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““1. That your petitioner is a creditor of the above named bankrupt, having duly filed its proof of claim herein in the sum of $14,-958.15. “2. That on the 23rd day of September, 1929, a petition in bankruptcy was filed against the above named- bankrupt in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and thereafter Foster Construction Corporation was duly adjudicated a bankrupt in said court. “3. That Joseph Popkin is the president of the bankrupt corporation and he has withdrawn and failed to account for more than $100,000.00 of the cash funds of the bankrupt corporation. Joseph Popkin has never been examined in the bankruptcy proceedings hereinabove referred to. In 1929, Joseph Popkin fled to Canada to avoid arrest and remained out of the jurisdiction until such time as he believed his creditors had been placated into not taking any action against him. On January 27, 1930, a ne ex-eat order was made by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York commanding the United States Marshal for the said district to take Joseph Popkin into custody, but Joseph Popkin again fled the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and in spite of the strenuous efforts made by your petitioner and other creditors, no trace could be found of him. Your petitioner discovered a few days ago that Joseph Popkin had come back to Greater New York and applied for and procured an order yesterday, December 3, 3”

quoted by 3 later decisions, including In re Robinson, In re FLAHERTY

Relies on Byron Babbitt v. Howard Dutcher T

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1910-02-21

How this case has been cited

Cited by 66 later decisions (8 by the Supreme Court) — most recently August 2001 · most notably Acme Harvester Company v. Beekman Lumber Company (1911), Robertson v. Railroad Labor Board (1925)

23 federal appellate · 21 district ·

2801910192019301940195019601970198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1CERTIFICATE FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT-OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT.

¶2On the authority of Babbiil v. Dutcher, ante, p. 102, held that:

¶3A court of bankruptcy has jurisdiction to grant an order for examination of a witness who resides in that district although the bankrupt proceedings in which the examination is desired are being administered- in another district.

¶4The respective Courts of the United States · Case Law">District Courts of the United States sitting in bank- - ruptcy have ancillary jurisdiction to make orders and issue process in aid of proceedings pending and being administered in the District Court of another district.

¶5The facts are stated in the opinion.

¶6Mr. Abram I. Elkus pro se, with whom Mr. Carlisle J. Gleason was on the brief, for the petitioner.

¶7There was no appearance for any other party.

¶8Mr. Chief Justice Fuller

¶9delivered the opinion of the court.

¶10The certificate, with the accompanying statement of facts, is as follows:

“On the 28th day of February, 1908, a petition in involun*116tary bankruptcy was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, against the Madson Steele Company, and in due course the said corporation was adjudicated a bankrupt, and Frank M. McKey was appointed its trustee in bankruptcy.
“Application was made to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for an authorization to examine, pursuant to the provision of section 21a of the national bankruptcy act, the officers of a New York corporation which it was alleged had, within four months prior to the filing of the petition in bankruptcy received a payment under circumstances which would permit of recovery by the trustee in bankruptcy as a voidable preference. These officers were residents of the Southern District of New York.
“The application in the Southern District of New York was' made on behalf of the trustee of the bankrupt’s estate, which was being administered in the Northern District of Illinois, and thé order proposed for signature required the examination of witnesses within the jurisdiction of the District Court .for the Southern District of New York and the production of books and vouchers which contained transactions between the bankrupt corporation and the New York corporation. ’
“The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to direct the appearance and examination of the said witnesses on the ground that it had no jurisdiction to grant an order for examination in a proceeding which was not pending within its own district, and from the order denying the right tp examine the petition to review was taken to this court.
“The questions submitted are:
“I. Did the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York have jurisdiction to grant an order for. the examination of witnesses, who were residents of that district, when the bankrupt proceedings in which the examination was desired were being administered in the Northern District of Illinois?
*117“II. Have the respective District Courts of the United States sitting in bankruptcy ancillary jurisdiction to make orders and issue process in aid of proceedings pending and being administered in the District Court of another district?”

¶11On the authority of Babbitt, Trustee, v. Dutcher, just decided, ante, p. 102, we answer both questions in the affirmative, and it will be

¶12So certified.

/216/us/115 · .json · Public domain