Consumer Bankruptcy

When Is an Emergency Really an Emergency? A Chamber’s Perspective on Urgent Relief By Hon. Selene D. Maddox and Jace Ferraez 1 In bankruptcy practice, “emergency” is a term of art, not a label of convenience. Practitioners frequently invoke it, sometimes reflexively, to

The Gendered Fresh Start: Financial Vulnerability in Men and Women By Kandis Coleman 1 In times of economic distress, consumers seek relief through various channels. Supplementing income through secondary employment, increasing credit card usage, borrowing money from

The Tenth Circuit BAP holds that dismissal is not automatic and immediate when a chapter 13 debtor moves to dismiss voluntarily under Section 1307(b).

Parroting a local rule made the retention agreement more confusing, not less.

Embezzlement from an LLC conferred standing to sue on an owner, not only on the LLC.

Circuits are split on whether nonpayment of taxes alone establishes the ‘conduct’ requirement making taxes nondischargeable for having evaded payment of taxes.

Congress Passes “Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act” The House of Representatives passed (voice vote) S. 3424, the “Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2025,” 1 to double the compensation payable to chapter 7 trustees in no-asset cases, extend the sunset

Unlike debtors in chapter 13, chapter 7 debtors cannot pay counsel with estate property. There may be no workaround allowing chapter 7 debtors to pay counsel before filing for services to be performed after filing.

A district court in New York affirmed Bankruptcy Judge Paek by holding that collection of a sanction for a stay violation doesn’t require a writ of execution under Federal Rule 69(a).

Even if a debtor is ineligible to file again under Section 109(g), another filing does create a stay, but it’s not applicable to enforcement of a lien against real property.