Iberiabank v. Geisen, No. 14-11473 (11th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIberiabank appealed the district court's decision affirming the bankruptcy court's order that Iberiabank's claims against Bradford Geisen, president and 100% shareholder of FFS, were released. The court concluded that section 8.13 of the bankruptcy reorganization plan of FFS is a general release of all claims against Geisen which include claims arising out of his personal guaranty of the loan at issue. The court rejected Iberiabank's request for the court to follow cases from the Fifth Circuit to conclude that the release in section 8.13 is not sufficiently specific to have res judicata effect. The court concluded that under principles of contract interpretation, the confirmed plan contained a "general release" that released claims based on Geisen's guaranty of the loan. As in In re Optical, this case is not truly about res judicata, but, rather, the interpretation of a reorganization plan. Even if the court were to apply the Fifth Circuit's test, the court would conclude that the release was sufficiently specific to release Geisen. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
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