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.
Addressing several issues where the courts are deeply split, Bankruptcy Judge Thomas J. Tucker of Detroit concluded that Social Security benefits can be considered in deciding whether a chapter 7.....
Another court has sanctioned a necessarily cumbersome process to make bankruptcy affordable for those who need it most — namely, people so broke they can’t pay the filing fee, much less a retainer.
Ba.....
Circuit decisions are rare where the concurrence is more significant than the panel opinion. In a bankruptcy that has already generated gobs of law at all levels, Sixth Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton.....
Fifth Circuit Stretches Equitable Notions to Bend Plain Language
A nonprecedential opinion from the Fifth Circuit raises the perennial question: When, if ever, may the court ignore the plain language.....
Creating a split of circuits, the Fifth Circuit held that Section 362(c)(3)(A) only terminates the automatic stay as to the debtor and property of the debtor, but not as to property of the estate.
Sec.....
In most of the country, creditors had been judged by an almost strict liability standard for violating the discharge injunction. A decision by Chief Bankruptcy Judge Scott W. Dales of Grand Rapids.....
As a prudential matter and not for lack of jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit held that the district where a bankruptcy case was pending is the only district that can enforce a discharge injunction. The.....
Recent decisions by the Supreme Court did not change the law and do not require bankruptcy courts to compel arbitration of core issues, the Fifth Circuit said in a per curiam opinion.
More.....
The so-called Holder Rule is an important weapon that debtors can use when the originator of consumer paper has not lived up to its contractual obligations.
In a chapter 13 case before Bankruptcy.....
Sixth Circuit to Rule on Deductions for Contributions to Retirement Accounts (Updated)
In dicta, the Sixth Circuit had said in 2012 that voluntary contributions to a 401(k) plan must be paid to.....