Last month, we looked at the history of Rousey v. Jacoway and began to consider the arguments of the debtors, the trustee and the amicus in light of the Third Circuit's decision in Clark v. O'Neill ( In re Clark), 711 F.2d 21 (3d Cir. 1983)…
The Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's (BAP) recent decision in In re Mersmann, 318 B.R. 537 (10th BAP 2004), underscores the continuing tension between chapter 13 plan provisions discharging student loans, and implies that such dis…
In the past, traditional mortgage lenders automatically rejected people who had declared personal bankruptcy. Many potential homebuyers felt they must wait at least seven to 10 years after a bankruptcy to be eligible to become homeowners. M…
In late 2004, the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) adopted a strategic plan 1 for 2005-10 that encompasses several critical goals: (1) protecting the integrity of the bankruptcy system, (2) promoting the effectiveness and efficiency of the syste…
From time to time in this column we have reported on general trends in chapter 13 case administration. Here, we present an update through the end of September 2003 (FY 2003). 1 Table 1 displays the numbers of chapter 13 filings and the amou…
Student loan obligations are becoming not only more prevalent but also significantly larger. There is no doubt that several factors are driving this situation— e.g., the ever-increasing cost of post-secondary education and the decreasing va…
Editor's Note: Part II of this article will appear in the March 2005 issue. On Dec. 1, 2004, counsel for the debtors and their panel trustee squared off before the Supreme Court. The Court had granted certiorari in June to resolve a split a…
On Feb. 24, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a U.S. District Court's reversal of a bankruptcy court order that had granted Kmart authority to pay the pre-petition clams of vendors that Kmart deemed critical t…
Editor's Note: This month's column provides an overview of some of the differences between bankruptcy "litigation" and litigation in a non-bankruptcy forum, highlighting some pitfalls that traditional litigators may encounter when they vent…
Editor's Note: This is the third in this column series for the newly minted chapter 11 professional. In our last installment, we began to paint a portrait of a chapter 11 debtor's life, from preparing for a bankruptcy filing to first-day he…