John C. Kiriakou v. John Bamford; Heather K. Kiriakou; Northrop Grumman Corporation

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-1652
JOHN C. KIRIAKOU,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
JOHN BAMFORD; HEATHER K. KIRIAKOU; NORTHROP GRUMMAN
CORPORATION,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. Claude M. Hilton, Senior District Judge. (1:20-cv-00662-CMH-JFA)
Submitted: January 31, 2023 Decided: March 10, 2023
Before DIAZ and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ON BRIEF: Bruce Fein, LAW OFFICES OF BRUCE FEIN, Washington, D.C., for
Appellant. Ilana H. Eisenstein, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brett Ingerman, DLA PIPER
LLP (US), Baltimore, Maryland; Richard C. Sullivan Jr., Jonathan M. Harrison II, BEAN,
KINNEY & KORMAN, P.C., Arlington, Virginia; Ryan Samuel, ARLINGTON
COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Arlington, Virginia, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

-- 1 of 3 --

2
PER CURIAM:
John Kiriakou appeals the district court’s order dismissing for lack of standing his
refiled civil complaint. On appeal, Kiriakou, who had previously filed for bankruptcy
under Chapter 7, contends that because he acquired the bankruptcy estate’s interest in the
litigation claims before filing his second complaint, he adequately pleaded standing. For
the reasons that follow, we vacate the district court’s order and remand for further
proceedings.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal for lack of standing. Episcopal
Church in S.C. v. Church Ins. Co. of Vt., 997 F.3d 149, 154 (4th Cir. 2021). As the party
invoking the district court’s jurisdiction, Kiriakou bears the burden of demonstrating
standing. Id. “If a cause of action is part of the estate of the bankrupt then the trustee alone
has standing to bring that claim.” Nat’l Am. Ins. Co. v. Ruppert Landscaping Co., 187 F.3d
439, 441 (4th Cir. 1999).
It is undisputed that Kiriakou had acquired from the bankruptcy estate the causes of
action pleaded in his second complaint after the district court dismissed his first complaint
for lack of standing. In the second complaint, Kiriakou alleged that all causes of action
belonged to him, though he did not specifically mention the bankruptcy trustee’s return of
the claims to him. Moreover, a review of the bankruptcy court’s docket discloses that
Kiriakou had acquired the causes of action, a fact of which the district court could have
taken judicial notice. See United States v. Townsend, 886 F.3d 441, 444 (4th Cir. 2018)
(noting that court records are the most common type of judicially noticed records).

-- 2 of 3 --

3
Accordingly, although we deny as moot Kiriakou’s motion for summary reversal,
we vacate the district court’s order and remand for further proceedings. We dispense with
oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED

-- 3 of 3 --