MARKETGRAPHICS RESEARCH GROUP, INC. v. DAVID PETER BERGE - Articles

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MARKETGRAPHICS RESEARCH GROUP, INC. v. DAVID PETER BERGE

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 27, 2020

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Paul J. Krog, LEADER, BULSO & NOLAN, PLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Steven L. Lefkovitz, LEFKOVITZ & LEFKOVITZ, PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Attorneys 2: ON BRIEF: Paul J. Krog, LEADER, BULSO & NOLAN, PLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Steven L. Lefkovitz, LEFKOVITZ & LEFKOVITZ, PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Judge(s): MOORE, COOK, and READLER, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville

CHAD A. READLER, Circuit Judge. For the Berge family, federal litigation unfortunately has become something of a family affair. David Berge and his parents, Don and Martha, were named as defendants in an unfair competition lawsuit brought by MarketGraphics Research Group, Inc., a company with which Don had previously been associated. Before MarketGraphics could proceed to judgment, Don and Martha filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. And when MarketGraphics ultimately obtained a judgment against David, he soon began pursuing Chapter 7 proceedings of his own.

We agree with the bankruptcy court. Nothing in the record of these proceedings or the proceedings for the underlying judgment supports a finding that David acted with the requisite intent under § 523(a)(6) to harm MarketGraphics. Nor do we accept MarketGraphics’s contention that we are precluded from reviewing that issue in the first instance. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the bankruptcy court that David’s debts are dischargeable.

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