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.
District Judge Brett H. Ludwig of Milwaukee stepped into the middle of a split by holding that an individual debtor’s prior bankruptcy did not discharge liability on a personal guarantee for debts.....
If the law changes, neither judicial estoppel nor law-of-the-case prevents the debtor from objecting to the classification of a claim that was treated as having priority in a confirmed chapter 13 plan.....
On a question where the courts are split, Bankruptcy Judge Beth E. Hanan of Milwaukee extrapolated from Seventh Circuit authority to hold that a discharge terminates liability that arises after filing.....
Even though measured by the expenses incurred by the state disciplinary authorities, a district judge in Wisconsin sided with the Ninth Circuit and held that costs assessed against the lawyer were not.....