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Ex parte Sterilite Corporation of Alabama6/7/2002
mental differences between the principles of 'real party in interest' and 'standing.' '" he real party in interest principle is a means to identify the person who possesses the right sought to be enforced. Therefore, the term directs attention to whether plaintiff has a significant interest in the particular action he has instituted."' Dennis v. Magic City Dodge, Inc., 524 So. 2d 616, 618 (Ala. 1988)(quoting 6 Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure ยง 1542 (1971)).
"Standing, on the other hand, turns on 'whether the party has been injured in fact and whether the injury is to a legally protected right.' Romer v. Board of County Comm'rs of the County of Pueblo, 956 P.2d 566, 581 (Colo. 1998)(Kourlis, J., dissenting)(emphasis added). See also NAACP v. Town of East Haven, 892 F. Supp. 46 (D. Conn. 1995). 'One has standing to bring his complaint into court "if his stake in the resolution of that complaint assumes the proportions necessary to ensure that he will vigorously present his case."' Smith v. Potts, 293 Ala. 419, 422, 304 So. 2d 578, 580 (1974)(emphasis added)." 740 So. 2d at 1027-28.
Further, in Battle v. Alpha Chemical & Paper Co., 770 So. 2d 626 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000), a case involving a defendant's challenge to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor's "standing" to maintain a breach-of- contract action against it, the Court of Civil Appeals, after determining that the defendant was not entitled to a summary judgment on the theory of judicial estoppel, stated:
"Having concluded that the summary judgment cannot be upheld on the basis of judicial estoppel, we must now address whether that judgment may be affirmed on the basis that the trustee in bankruptcy , rather than Battle, was the real party in interest, with exclusive power to maintain a civil action against Alpha. We use the term 'real party in interest,' rather than 'standing,' for a reason. Although both the parties and the trial court have blurred the issue3 by referring to Battle's 'standing,' the question whether a party has standing to sue is distinct from whether he or she is the real party in interest. While the real-party-in-interest principle directs attention to whether the plaintiff has a significant interest in the particular action he or she has instituted, standing requires that the plaintiff demonstrate an injury to a legally protected right. State v. Property at 2018 Rainbow Drive, 740 So. 2d 1025, 1027-28 (Ala. 1999); accord, Sprague v. Sysco Corp., 97 Wash. App. 169, 175, 982 P.2d 1202, 1205 (1999), review denied, 140 Wash. 2d 1004, 999 P.2d 1262 (2000)(table). Here, Battle has standing to sue because Alpha's alleged breach of contract injured her, not the bankruptcy trustee. Sprague[,] 97 Wash. App. at 175, 982 P.2d at 1205; Hammes v. Brumley, 659 N.E.2d 1021, 1030 (Ind. 1995).
"A number of cases have held that once a proceeding has been initiated under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code involving a debtor, the trustee in bankruptcy becomes the real party in interest with respect to lawsuits upon causes of action held by the debtor. See, e.g., Bickford v. Ponce de Leon Care Ctr., 918 F. Supp. 377 (M.D. Fla. 1996); Ex parte Moore, [793 So. 2d 762] (Ala. 2000)(distinguishing Chapter 13 cases, although using 'standing' terminology.) ...
"3We note that this court has, on occasion, similarly blurred this issue. E.g., Cooks v. Jim Walter Homes, 695 So. 2d 19 (Ala. Civ. App. 1996)(using 'standing' terminology), which was overruled by Ex parte Moore, [793 So. 2d 762] (Ala. 2000), as it applied to Chapter 13 debtors." 770 So. 2d at 634.
The situation in the instant case is similar to the situation presented in Battle, and as in
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