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.
Declining “the request to expand broadly an already questionable doctrine,” the majority on a Sixth Circuit panel held “that the doctrine of equitable mootness has no place in Chapter 7 liquidations.”.....
The amendments to Section 330(a) in 1994 do not bar courts from considering “results obtained” when making allowances of professional compensation, the Sixth Circuit held in an opinion on August 16.
Th.....
The Sixth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel barred a debtor from using voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(2) to avoid the consequences of discovery abuses. More specifically, the factual findings.....
The bankruptcy judges in the Western District of Kentucky have effectively banned so-called bifurcated fee arrangements where chapter 7 debtors pay counsel fees after filing. The October 5 opinion by.....
In September, the Ninth Circuit held that the Equal Access to Justice Act does not allow debtors to recover attorneys’ fees for reversing the bankruptcy court’s sua sponte denial of confirmation of a.....
Another Workaround Following the Prohibition of Nunc Pro Tunc Orders
Even though the Supreme Court has virtually prohibited the entry of orders nunc pro tunc, a bankruptcy court is not precluded from.....
When the sweeping language of a landmark Supreme Court opinion conflicted with the statute, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Phillip J. Shefferly of Detroit followed the statute.
In Harris v. Viegelahn, 575 U.S.....
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.....
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.....