Highland Capital Management LP v. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (In Re Seven Seas Petroleum, Inc.)

KING, Circuit Judge:

A secured creditor of a bankrupt corporation was sued by an unsecured creditor of the same corporation in state court and removed the claims against it to federal court, asserting that the claims were property of the bankruptcy estate and that the unsecured creditor had no right to assert them. The bankruptcy court agreed that the claims were property of the estate, denied the unsecured creditor’s motion to remand, and dismissed the claims. The district court affirmed on appeal. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the claims are not property of the bankruptcy…