Famous Last Words: “I’ll prepare the order, Your Honor.”

In a case where there was some confusion over the disbursement of settlement funds, the judge stated, “I’m going to issue an order to show cause,” and an attorney volunteered to prepare the order. That same day, the lawyer prepared the order for the court and sent a copy of it to all parties. The person who was ordered to show cause faxed the attorney an objection stating: “You are violating the automatic stay provisions of 11 U.S.C. §362,” the automatic bankruptcy stay. The party in bankruptcy thereafter filed a federal lawsuit alleging the lawyer and the judge violated the automatic stay. The judge filed a motion to dismiss, contending he was entitled to absolute judicial immunity, and the lawyer argued that, since he was following the judge’s order, he was entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity. The district court found the judge was entitled to immunity, but the lawyer was not because he volunteered to prepare the order. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, stating: “On the narrow question presented by this appeal, we conclude that an attorney preparing an order for a judge is not entitled to quasi-judicial immunity. We do not reach the question of whether such an action violated the automatic stay, or whether it was actionable under 11 U.S.C. § 362(k).” (Burton v. Infinity Capital Management (Ninth Cir.; June 4, 2014) (Case No. 12-15618) [59 Bankr.Ct.Dec. 162].)