Torrey v. Hamilton

MATTHEWS, Justice.

Dennis W. Torrey, the debtor under a state court judgment in favor of Robert E. Hamilton, filed for bankruptcy. Hamilton, in turn, filed an adversary proceeding in Tor-rey’s bankruptcy case. The question presented in this appeal is whether the attorney’s fees incurred in the adversary proceeding in bankruptcy are recoverable as “costs of collection” for the original state court judgment. We answer this question in the negative.

The $10,500 superior court judgment against Torrey was entered in 1988. After Torrey filed for bankruptcy and Hamilton filed an adversary action in…