Ehrenberg

Howard. Ehrenberg, the Chapter 7 trustee (“Trustee”), appeals a decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”), dismissing his appeal from an order of the bankruptcy court granting summary judgment in favor of the California State University, Fullerton Foundation (“Foundation”). The Trustee had brought an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court seeking to avoid an allegedly fraudulent transfer made by debtor Beachport Entertainment (“Debtor”) to the Foundation. The BAP dismissed the Trustee’s appeal for failure to provide the BAP with the judgment or the order being appealed, the complaint, and the answer, in violation of Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8009. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158 (d). While we appreciate the BAP’s frustration with counsel’s failure to follow the procedural rules, we conclude, based on the record before us, that dismissal was an inappropriately harsh sanction. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the BAP to consider alternate sanctions.

BACKGROUND

The Foundation was established to provide administrative and support services for contracts entered into between California State University, Fullerton (“University”), and…