In re Nance

556 F.2d 602 (1977)

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In re Nance

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
556 F.2d 602 (1977)

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Facts

In 1970, James Nance (debtor), a professional football player for the New England Patriots, was in arrears on multiple debts owed to Coolidge Bank and Trust Co. (Coolidge) (creditor). Nance executed a document purporting to assign his contract with the Patriots for payment over the 1970, 1971, and 1972 seasons to Coolidge as additional collateral. Nance was traded to another team in 1971. In 1972, Coolidge questioned whether it had adequate security for Nance’s debts. Nance created a trust to receive all outstanding compensation owed from the Patriots for the 1970 and 1971 seasons and named Coolidge and Nance’s agent as the trustees. One month later, Coolidge had Nance execute a demand note consolidating all of his debts and naming the trust and all compensation owed from the Patriots as security for the note’s repayment. In December 1973, Nance and the Patriots settled a dispute over Nance’s deferred compensation, and the Patriots paid Nance about $29,000. Nance gave Coolidge only $5,000. Coolidge sued Nance in state court to recover the unpaid balance on the demand note. Nance filed for bankruptcy in federal court, staying the state-court action. Coolidge then filed a petition in the bankruptcy proceeding, seeking to have about $24,000 of Nance’s debt declared nondischargeable. The bankruptcy court held that because of the assignment, the $24,000 Nance received from the Patriots belonged to Coolidge, and Nance’s willful and malicious conversion of that amount rendered the associated debt nondischargeable. The district court reversed, concluding that the money never belonged to Coolidge because Nance’s purported assignment violated a Massachusetts law prohibiting assignments of future wages. Coolidge appealed to the First Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Campbell, J.)

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