Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg
United States Supreme Court
492 U.S. 33 (1989)
The bankruptcy trustee Nordberg (plaintiff) sued Granfinanciera and Medex (defendants), who had not filed claims against the Chase & Sanborn bankruptcy estate, seeking to recover allegedly fraudulent conveyances; the defendants demanded jury trials, which the bankruptcy court denied, treating the suit as a "core proceeding" not entitled to a jury, and after a bench trial found the defendants liable. The district court affirmed without reaching the jury-trial issue, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on the theory that fraudulent-conveyance actions are equitable core proceedings not covered by the Seventh Amendment.
Whether the Seventh Amendment entitles a defendant in a fraudulent-conveyance action brought on behalf of a bankrupt estate to a jury trial, where that defendant did not file a claim against the debtor in the bankruptcy proceeding.