What factors are considered in determining whether to refer a fraudulent conveyance action to the bankruptcy court rather than the district court?

To these considerations are to be added policy factors of the type principally relied on in Salomon v. Kaiser. Like the fraudulent conveyance action there considered, actions to recovery preferences are "traditional bankruptcy disputes." Salomon v. Kaiser, at 1580-81. Indeed, they are essential if the bankruptcy process is not to be distorted and inequality among unsecured creditors to result. With respect to such a traditional bankruptcy dispute, "there should be at least one adjudication made by a judge with expertise in bankruptcy law. There is no assurance that a better initial determination would be made by a district judge." Salomon v. Kaiser, at 1581. The same reasoning applies here: there should be at least one determination made by a jury pursuant to instructions formulated, and a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict decided, by a judge with expertise in bankruptcy law. There is no assurance that better instructions and a better determination would be made by a district court judge.

Nor can it be gainsaid that referring all jury trials to the district court would serve the purpose of delay because of the district court's "crowded calendars." Salomon v. Kaiser, at 1581. The need for speedy trials of criminal cases, see, 18 U.S.C. 3161, et seq. (1983), seriously impacts those calendars. Retention of such trials in the bankruptcy court would thus give "all litigants a better opportunity to have their day in court." Salomon v. Kaiser, at 1581.