Goodson

We must decide whether the bankruptcy court had personal jurisdiction over the defendants in this adversary proceeding under Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7004(f) (“Rule 7004(f)”), as amended subsequent to the commencement of this action.

I. Procedural Background

Plaintiffs, the trustees (the “Trustees”) of a litigation trust (the “Litigation Trust”), brought this adversary proceeding, against defendants David J. Rowland, Jeremy E. James, David L. Hudd, Derek J. Moran (the “Rowland Directors”) and Inoco Pic (“Inoco”) to recover certain assets belonging to debtors Gulf USA Corporation (“Gulf’) and its subsidiary, Pintlar Corporation (“Pintlar”). The amended complaint alleged counts for fraudulent conveyance under Bankruptcy Code §§ 544, 548 and 550, and for misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duties, civil conspiracy, breach of contract and violation of Delaware corporation law. The bankruptcy court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss count II (corporate waste and mismanagement) for lack of personal jurisdiction but denied the motion with respect to the other counts. On interlocutory appeal, the district court affirmed the bankruptcy court’s order as to all counts except count VI (breach…