Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 9.djvu/400

 IN EB BIGNALL. 385 �the financial condition of the debtors, nor, with the aid of the con- signinent books, a proper account of the stock and previouB course of business. The discharge should, therefore, be granted. ���In re Bignall, Bankrupt. (District Court, E. D. Missouri. November 9. 1881. �1. Bankbuptct — Attoenbt'b Fbes— Act of 1875 — General Ordbb op thb Su- �preme Court. �An attorney's fee of $20 is all that can be allowed for obtainlng an involun- tary adjudication in bankruptcy. �2. Bame— Samb. �Where the assignee of a bankrupt had made an agreement with attorneya whereby they were to prosecute certain cases, andwere toreceive,if successful, such sum for their services as the court might allow, and they had thereupon instituted suits, gone to some expense and great trouble, and recovered large sums which otherwise would have been lost to the creditors pf the bankrupt, an allowance of 20 per cent, upon the amounts recovered held reasonable �In Bankruptcy. Petition for counsel fees. �The question here arose upon two petitions of the flrm of Taylor & Pollard, attorneys at law, asking for the allowance of certain fees, and the report of the register in bankruptcy, to whom the matter was referred. The register decided that said flrm were entitled to a fee of $750 for services as attorneys, on behalf of the petitioning creditors, iu obtainlng the adjudication of M. G. Bignall as a bankrupt, and to 20 per cent, of the amounts recovered in the suits referred to in the opinion of the court, and so reported. The register's report was excepted to by the Ctould Manufacturing Company and S. B. Gould, creditors, who had sought to obtain a fraudaient preference by buying up claims against the bankrupt's estate. �George M. Stewart, for petitioners. �J. M. e C. H, Krum, for excepting creditors. �Treat, D. J. I have considered the exceptions to the register's report in this case, and as the attorneys were anxious to have the matter determined before 3 o'clock to-day, I shall announce my con- clusions. The attorneys for the petitioning creditors asked for an allowance in the matter, for their services, of the sum of $1,000. The register, under all the facts and circumstances of the case, allowed the attorneys what he considered a reasonable sum, namely, the sum of $750. It is said, from the facts appearing with regard to the matter, that but for the proceedings in bankruptcy the creditera v.9,no.6— 25 ��� �