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.
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A nonprecedential opinion from the Fifth Circuit raises the perennial question: When, if ever, may the court ignore the plain language.....
On a question where the lower courts are split, Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar of Chicago took sides with the minority by holding that violating a PACA trust does not give rise to denial of.....
At least in Illinois, unused vacation pay is exempt as wages, no matter how much, according to Seventh Circuit Judge Frank H. Easterbrook.
The debtor lost his job and filed bankruptcy one week later.....
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.....
As a matter of constitutional law, the Seventh Circuit reduced punitive damages from $3 million to $582,000 when the jury had awarded the debtor $582,000 in compensatory damages as a consequence of.....
A decision from Illinois highlights two flaws in the U.S. health care system: (1) Even with health insurance, medical bills can force someone into bankruptcy; and (2) if medical bills are “consumer”.....
The Seventh Circuit slammed the door on another theory used by bankrupt citizens of Chicago to avoid paying traffic tickets and parking fines incurred while in chapter 13.
In March, the Chicago-based.....
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.....