Opinion
December 23, 1937.
Appeal from Supreme Court of New York County.
Edward F. Keenan of counsel [ Samuel Boksenbom with him on the brief; Edward F. Keenan, attorney], for the Superintendent of Insurance of the State of New York, as liquidator of National Surety Company.
Stewart Maurice of counsel (in person) [ Thomas E. White, attorney], for the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland.
James M. Grossman of counsel [ Ralph Wolf with him on the brief; Hays, Wolf, Kaufman Schwabacher, attorneys], for the National Bondholders Corporation and its subsidiaries. J. Seymour Montgomery, Jr., of counsel [ John S. Montgomery with him on the brief; Montgomery, Peabody, Grace Derby, attorneys], for the respondents and respondents' protective committee.
Present — MARTIN, P.J., O'MALLEY, TOWNLEY, DORE and COHN, JJ.
By the orders appealed from the applications of Montgomery, Peabody, Grace Derby, as attorneys for Henry K. Burns and others, constituting the protective committee for unsecured creditors of National Surety Company, for an allowance of $100,000 for services rendered as counsel for the committee, and the application of said committee for the allowance for disbursements in the sum of $4,719.11, have been granted to the extent of referring the question of the reasonableness of the amounts sought in each application to a referee for determination and to report thereon to the court.
In our view both orders were improper. An examination of the record discloses that the respondent committee herein, neither through its members nor through its attorneys, did anything either to conserve or to increase the assets of the corporation, which was taken over by the Superintendent of Insurance for rehabilitation purposes. They were not, therefore, in any manner entitled to reimbursement for expenditures nor for payment for alleged legal services rendered.
It follows, therefore, that the orders appealed from should be reversed, with twenty dollars costs and disbursements, and the motions denied.
Orders unanimously reversed, with twenty dollars costs and disbursements, and the motions denied.