Clay Capital Corp, et al v. Pronske, et al

*Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under
the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
February 15, 2005
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
No. 04-10461
In the Matter of : ALTMAN NURSING, INC.,
Debtor,
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CLAY CAPITAL CORP; AVI DAN,
Appellants,
VERSUS
GERRIT M. PRONSKE; GERRIT M. PRONSKE PC.,
Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
For the Northern District of Texas, Dallas
3:03-CV-2707-P
Before JOLLY, DAVIS, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
In this bankruptcy appeal, the contest is between Clay Capital
Corp. (Clay), a claimant in the Altman Nursing, Inc. bankruptcy
proceeding, and Clay’s lawyer in that proceeding, Gerrit M. Pronske

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(Pronske). Clay contends in this appeal that Pronske violated
professional and fiduciary obligations Pronske owed to it in
handling the funds Pronske was hired to collect for Clay. Although
Clay asserted some of the facts underlying its claims of
ethical/professional breaches in the bankruptcy court, it did not
articulate the legal basis for these claims as clearly as it could
have and the bankruptcy court did not consider them. The district
court refused to consider these arguments because they were not
adequately raised in the bankruptcy court. Because these arguments
involve the alleged misconduct of a member of the bar of this
court, we conclude that they deserve a hearing so that a fact
finder can determine whether Pronske violated his professional
duties to his client and if so, whether and in what amount Clay is
entitled to recover from the sums Pronske collected.
Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s judgment and
REMAND this case to the district court with instructions to REMAND
it to the bankruptcy court for further proceedings consistent with
this opinion.
REMANDED.

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