Factors relevant to court’s decision on permissive abstention: How does a bankruptcy court determine whether an adversary proceeding is a “Core Proceeding”?

Courts will consider several factors when determining whether to permissively abstain under 28 U.S.C. § 1334(c)(1) from hearing a proceeding, including:

(1) the effect of abstention on the efficient administration of the bankruptcy estate;

(2) the extent to which state law issues predominate over bankruptcy issues;

(3) the difficulty or unsettled nature of the applicable law;

(4) the presence of a related proceeding commenced in state court or other non-bankruptcy court;

(5) the basis of bankruptcy jurisdiction, if any, other than 28 U.S.C. § 1334;

(6) the degree of relatedness or remoteness of the proceeding to the main bankruptcy case;

(7) the substance rather than form of an asserted “core” proceeding;

(8) the feasibility of severing state law claims from core bankruptcy matters to allow judgments to be entered in state court with enforcement left to the bankruptcy court;

(9) the burden of the bankruptcy court’s docket;

(10) the likelihood that the commencement of the proceeding in bankruptcy court involves forum shopping by one of the parties;

(11) the existence of a right to a jury trial;

(12) the presence in the proceeding of non-debtor parties;

(13) comity; and,

(14) the possibility of prejudice to other parties in the action.

In re Mauro, 2018 WL 4815614 (Bankr. D. D.C., Oct. 2, 2018)