In the Matter of the Bankruptcy Petition Re: Ross Drummond, Jr., Dba Ross Drummond Motors. William B. Grover v. Ross Drummond, Jr.

416 F.2d 931 In the Matter of the Bankruptcy Petition Re: Ross DRUMMOND, Jr., dba Ross Drummond Motors. William B. GROVER, Appellant, v. Ross DRUMMOND, Jr., Appellee. No. 23021. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. September 19, 1969. 1 Frederick L. Hilger, Eureka, Cal., for appellant. 2 Milton Maxwell Newmark, Lafayette, Cal., for appellee. 3 Before BARNES and HAMLEY, Circuit Judges, and KILKENNY, District Judge * . KILKENNY, District Judge: 4 Appellant appeals from the judgment of the District Court, affirming the order of the Referee in Bankruptcy, which removed appellant from the list of qualified trustees for the Eastern District of California. Appellant is qualified in the Northern District of that state. The record supports the findings of the Referee that appellant's main office was in Eureka, outside the Eastern District of California and that he employed a secretary who was present in the Redding office in the Eastern District on an irregular schedule. She was present in Redding, in the Eastern District, only 15 to 20 hours a week. She was paid on an hourly basis, rather than on a regular monthly or bi-monthly pay schedule, and was also employed by a radio…

Appellant appeals from the judgment of the District Court, affirming the order of the Referee in Bankruptcy, which removed appellant from the list of qualified trustees for the Eastern District of California. Appellant is qualified in the Northern District of that state. The record supports the findings of the Referee that appellant’s main office was in Eureka, outside the Eastern District of California and that he employed a secretary who was present in the Red-ding office in the Eastern District on an irregular schedule. She was present in Redding, in the Eastern District, only 15 to 20 hours a week. She was paid on an hourly basis, rather than on a regular monthly or bi-monthly pay schedule, and was also employed by a radio station. Appellant maintained an answering telephone service which received calls when his secretary was absent, which would be about one-half the regular 40-hour week. Appellant spent only two to four days a month in the Redding office in the months of October, November and December, immediately preceding this controversy. Indeed, the Redding office was used mainly as a warehouse to store items which appellant collected in various bankrupt estates which he…

(specially concurring):

I concur in the result and in the opinion, except for the penultimate paragraph.