Joining the Tenth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit also has held that chapter 13 trustees are not paid their fees when cases are dismissed before confirmation. The identical issue was argued on February 15 before the Second Circuit.
In short order, we’ll have either unanimity or a split of circuits. A split will give rise to an issue worthy of a grant of certiorari by the Supreme Court.
Notably, the Ninth Circuit’s opinion on June 12 adopted reasoning in an amicus brief filed in support of the debtor by the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center and National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
On two important questions, the Third Circuit handed down a decision on modification of chapter 13 plans that should apply equally to modified chapter 11 plans:
1. When the debtor moves to modify a.....
A troubling decision from a district court in New Jersey seems to have disregarded the power of a bankruptcy court under Section 329 to rule on the adequacy of disclosures and the amount of.....
The Supreme Court’s decisions in Bullard and Ritzen didn’t undercut the Third Circuit’s longstanding “pragmatic approach” to judging finality in bankruptcy cases, nor did they undermine In re Brown, 9.....
The Supreme Court created a problem for cash-starved debtors when the Court held in Lamie that a discharge prevents a lawyer from requiring a chapter 7 debtor to pay for post-petition services after.....
“[W]hen an attorney learns that a client has engaged in fraudulent or unauthorized conduct,” the lawyer “must take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal,”.....
A settlement term sheet signed after mediation by the debtor, her nondebtor husband and the creditor was enforceable, according to Bankruptcy Judge Ashely M. Chan of Philadelphia, even though the.....
A district judge in New Jersey held that a chapter 7 trustee isn’t entitled to a commission based on disbursements to the trustee’s own counsel. The judge believes that counsel for a trustee is not a.....
The lack of creditor opposition isn’t enough for the bankruptcy court to extend the automatic stay for a repeat filer in chapter 13, for reasons explained by Chief Bankruptcy Judge Gregory L. Taddonio.....
Based on Supreme Court authority, the Third Circuit held that the deadline for objecting to dischargeability of a debt cannot be extended by equitable tolling.
The July 10 opinion by Circuit Judge.....
For authority, Bankruptcy Judge Kathryn C. Ferguson of Trenton, N.J., could have cited Bob Dylan, who sang, “For the times, they are a-changin’.”
The debtor had been fired by his employer, allegedly.....