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.
The amendment to Bankruptcy Rule 2003(e) didn’t create a bright-line rule automatically cutting off the time for objecting to exemptions when the trustee doesn’t announce and file a statement.....
Debtors and trustees should read a Fifth Circuit opinion to understand how the sale of a debtor’s claims should be structured to prevent the sale from being champertous and void.
The debtor severely.....
After discharge, state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction to decide whether a debt was discharged.
Allowing a state court to decide a discharge question is risky, for reasons shown in a.....
In an involuntary petition, creditors who received voidable transfers may not be counted in deciding whether the alleged debtor has 12 or more creditors. On an issue where lower courts are split.....
In chapter 13, creditors – not just the debtor – may sometimes lose out if the debtor had concealed the existence of a personal injury claim and the defendant invokes judicial estoppel to bar.....
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A nonprecedential opinion from the Fifth Circuit raises the perennial question: When, if ever, may the court ignore the plain language.....
Fifth Circuit Muses on the Split over Pleading Standards for Fraudulent Schemes
The Fifth Circuit wrote a primer on pleading standards for claims of fraudulent transfer, preference, equitable.....
Mothers Owed Child Support Weren’t Entitled to Notice in Father’s Bankruptcy, Circuit Says
Interpreting Illinois law, the Fifth Circuit narrowly construed the term creditor in holding that custodial.....