United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED May 13, 2024 No. 22-30539 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk In the Matter of Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Debtor, James Adams; Jackie Berthelot; Theodore Jackson; Eric Johnson,

Appellants,

versus Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans,

Appellee. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:22-CV-1738 ______________________________ Before King, Jones, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge: Appellants are former members of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (“Committee”), appointed as part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings initiated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Case: 22-30539 Document: 138-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/13/2024

No. 22-30539

Orleans (“Archdiocese”). Appellants contend that their removal from the Committee by the bankruptcy court was unlawful, and that the district court erred in denying their motion to vacate the judgment because the district judge who was originally assigned their appeal should have recused himself earlier. We conclude that the district court did not err in declining to vacate the judgment, and the Appellants lack standing under Article III to prosecute this appeal. AFFIRMED. BACKGROUND

The Archdiocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief on May 1, 2020, “largely in response to numerous lawsuits brought against it in state court alleging sexual abuse by priests or lay persons employed or supervised by the Archdiocese and complicity of the Archdiocese in that abuse.”1 About three weeks afterward, the United States Trustee (“Trustee”) appointed the Committee. Id. at 805. At the time of the relevant events in this case, the Committee was composed of six of the more than 450 abuse claimants. Id. The Committee, as a single unit and with the bankruptcy court’s approval, is represented by the law firms of Locke Lord LLP and Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP. Id. But individual members of the committee retained their respective state-court counsel to advise them on their individual claims against the Archdiocese and its bankruptcy estate and to assist them in

_____________________ 1 In re Roman Cath. Church of Archdiocese of New Orleans, 678 F. Supp. 3d 797, 804 (E.D. La. 2023) (footnote omitted) [hereinafter “Trahant Ashe Opinion”]. This opinion, which is integrally related to this case but is not the subject of this appeal, involves the motions for rehearing and motions to vacate filed by the Appellants’ attorney, Mr. Trahant, as they relate to the bankruptcy court’s sanction against him. In that opinion, Judge Ashe denied Trahant’s motions for rehearing and motion to vacate, but withdrew Judge Guidry’s March 27, 2023, opinion that affirmed the bankruptcy court.

2 Case: 22-30539 Document: 138-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/13/2024

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fulfilling their duties as Committee members. Id. Until June 7, 2022, Richard C. Trahant served as counsel or co-counsel to four of the s