Opinion
Civil No. 08-cv-422-SM.
December 10, 2009
ORDER
Defendant Manoukian moves to enforce the automatic bankruptcy stay arising from his Chapter 11 filing to preclude his deposition on December 11, 2009.
It is well-established that stays pursuant to § 362(a) are limited to debtors and do not encompass non-bankrupt co-defendants . . . (citations omitted) . . . Chapter 11, unlike Chapter 13, contains no provision to protect non-debtors who are jointly liable on a debt with the debtor.Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America v. Butler, 803 F.2d 61, 65 (2d Cir. 1986). The automatic stay in bankruptcy precludes discovery as to Manoukian but not as to any other defendant. If Manoukian has information as to co-defendants, the stay does not prevent discovery of that information. The stay is limited to him personally.
In the future, counsel should be aware that the court is never offended when counsel provide legal authority to support their position.
The motion (doc. no. 100) is granted to the extent set forth.