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Allowing Trustee Removal For Cause, Sua Sponte, After Notice And A Hearing, Jonathan Grasso

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

The issue of whether a bankruptcy judge can sua sponte remove a trustee has rarely been addressed; however, two courts have recently considered the issue. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in Morgan v. Goldman (In re Morgan), 375 B.R. 838 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2007) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Walden v. Walker (In re Walker), 515 F.3d 1204 (11th Cir. 2008) both concluded that a bankruptcy judge has the ability to remove a trustee “for cause,” sua sponte, after “notice and a hearing.”

Morgan was the first case to ever deal …