Bankruptcy Tweets for the Week Ending 4/4/2010
No shortage of interesting cases. Here are a few that I posted on Twitter this past week. RSS Feeds are also available TX Dist. Ct. affirms decision requiring debtor to pay default rate of interest in cram down of secured...
US Supreme Court on Justice Holmes' 169th B-day Holds in Milavetz that the Bankruptcy Code's Speech Restrictions on Attorneys Do Not Turn Them into Ruthless Drones
Back in the good old days when bashing BAPCPA was in vogue, I posited here that BAPCPA's "debt relief agency" provisions "look more like an effort to create a consumer bankruptcy lawyer clone who, much like the ever-multiplying Agent Smith...
Cathy Vance, Resident Guru, Calls Expansive Invocation of the In Pari Delicto Defense a "Jurisprudential House of Cards"
Whatever you may think about the fact that Refco's outside corporate counsel, Joe Collins, was convicted on 5 criminal counts and sentenced today to 7 years in prison, one has to wonder how the system got so turned upside down...
Zywicki on the Chrysler Bankruptcy: Whither the Rule of Law?
[6/09/09 Update: See also my analysis of the Chrysler Sale Opinion (Part I) and (Part II).] Todd Zywicki, the University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University's School of Law, has been a friend to me and this blog...
4th Circuit Overrules Judge Small And Holds That Ordinary Commodity Supply Contracts Fall Within BAPCPA's "Swap Agreement" Amendments
In June 2007, I wrote here about Judge Small's opinion that BAPCPA's expanded "safe-harbor" definition of "swap agreement" did not apply to ordinary supply agreements in which a seller and an end-user entered into a contract "for delivery of a...
Twin Picks of the Month - Part I: Davey's Required Bankruptcy Reading for December 2007
Last year, I posted "twin picks of the month" (here and here) in honor of the birth of my twin boys, Davey and Zack. Well, they've just turned one, so it's time for another twin pick in their honor! In...
Free Fall: Lehman Enters Chapter 11
(9/16/08 Update Here) In most endeavors, it's important to start off on the right foot. I don't think you'd call the Lehman bankruptcy filing today one such start. A well-planned bankruptcy case is orchestrated so that the early days of...
Exit Stage Left?: Purchasers of Simplicity's Assets Hope (Against Hope?) to Avoid Successor Product Liability Claims in Simplicity Bassinet Recall
[6/19/08 Update: The issues raised by this case are fully explored in connection with my filed objection to the GM 363 Sale on behalf of certain products liability claimants, discussed here.] I decided to do some digging after reading of...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for September 2007
As everyone watching this year's entertaining (and sleep-depriving) Beijing Olympics knows, records are made to be broken. Blogging records are no exception, with my latest post on Judge Markell's bombshell ruling nearly, but not quite, breaking with 1,482 page views...
Judge Markell's Bombshell BAP Ruling That a Winning Credit Bid in a Bankruptcy 363 Sale Doesn't Strip Off Junior Liens Confirms Ominous Predictions That the End of Bankruptcy Is Near!
At the end of last May, Chicago's ten bankruptcy judges gathered at a day-long, TMA-sponsored event and shared their candid, sometimes off-the-cuff, non-binding views on various hot bankruptcy topics. One of the liveliest panel discussions focused on various issues arising...
Houston's Chief Judge Wesley Steen Refuses to Let Unclaimed Funds Escheat to the Cheats
Houston draws many visitors looking for the hottest and spiciest foods in Texas. A recent Houston tradition is the "Houston Hot Sauce Festival," which last September for its 8th annual fest drew over 40 competitors statewide. So who's got the...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for August 2007
Time to catch up on summer reading. Last summer, that is. This post is part of the continuing series, started back in October 2005, linking to important bankruptcy-related articles of interest. The last post in the series came after the...
"Location, Location, Location": US Supreme Court Holds The Stamp Tax Exemption Only Applies To Post-Confirmation Asset Transfers
The mantra of the real estate world is that the three most important factors in determining the value of a piece of property are "location, location, location." Justice Clarence Thomas (whose sense of humor is surely unappreciated, as my former...
BAPCPA Guru Cathy Vance Untangles the Purpose and Application (So Far) of New Bankruptcy Rule 6003
In advance of her coming to Chicago on May 1 to speak at this upcoming all day symposium sponsored by the CLLA and DePaul's Business & Commercial Law Journal, America's BAPCPA guru, Cathy Vance, Vice President of Research & Policy...
About Us
The Coleman Law Firm was founded in 1984 and has since been a national leader in the area of complex commercial litigation. The firm has an outstanding record of success in highly sophisticated matters against some of the largest and...
May Day, May Day! Readying for DePaul's Spring Symposium on Lawyers, Law Firms & the Legal Profession
As winter's glove descends on Chicago with the onset of standard time, many of us in Chicago begin to count the weeks until "May Day," that festive day the world over when hope springs eternal and workers (and pagans) of...
Twin Picks of the Month - Part II: Zack's Required Bankruptcy Reading for July 2007
One thing is certain, no two fraternal twins are alike. And Zachary Spencer, yanked out feet first at an equally healthy 6 lbs. 6 oz. five minutes after his brother Dave (and none too happy about having lost the territory...
Twin Picks of the Month: Dave's Required Bankruptcy Reading for June 2007
Ahh, the joy of twin boys! A great blessing no matter how you slice it. The first, David Charles, was born at 3:55 p.m. on October 1, and weighed a healthy 6 lbs. 14 oz. The picture you see of...
Nemo Filleted: Judge Scheindlin Rules that Good Faith Purchasers of Claims in Bankruptcy Need No Longer Choke on the Personal Disabilities of the Claims Transferor
Last year, then "Junior Scholar" -- and now Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown -- Adam Levitin (who is also a long-time reader of this blog!) wrote an excellent piece entitled Finding Nemo: Rediscovering the Virtues of Negotiability in the...
News from the Congressional Front - Part I: Pending Bankruptcy Legislation of Interest to You
It's been a while since I've created a new category, but this article by Marcia Coyle in the National Law Journal (including a quote from resident guru, Cathy Vance) about Congressional hypocrisy in having enacted draconian bankruptcy laws and then...
Judge Easterbrook Doesn't Get Hung Up by the Hanging Paragraph of "the 2005 Act"
As noted in the section of my BAPCPA outline of one year ago entitled "The Hanging Paragraph: Section 1325(a)(*) -- The "Car Loan Protection" Provision: The Law of Intended and Unintended Consequences, a pesky little decision by Judge (and former...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for May 2007
Time to catch up on more "Picks of the Month." These picks are for May 2007: Today's feature is Delaware, one of my favorite states, with its rolling hills, surprisingly lush forests, superlative courts (notwithstanding some opinions to the contrary,...
Judge Small Rules That Ordinary Commodity Supply Contracts Are Not "Swap Agreements" Under BAPCPA
BAPCPA's least appreciated (and understood) changes, despite their enormous impact on financial markets generally, are the changes designed to strengthen and clarify the enforceability of various types of financial derivatives contracts. To provide enhanced protection to the financial services industry,...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for April 2007
Time to catch up on more "Picks of the Month." These picks are for April 2007: Bankruptcy veterans (and Tennesseeans) will recognize the inset photo of the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, located in the famed U.S....
Recent Posted or Updated Bankruptcy Business-Related Articles of Interest Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following bankruptcy business-related scholarly papers, arranged by SSRN abstract ID number, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network website: *** Univ. of Chicago Law School's Douglas G. Baird, IMD International's Arturo Bris, and Yale School of Management's...
The Subprime Lending Shakeout: A Litigation Perspective
Having finally wrapped up this mess, it's back to blogging on a more regular basis... Yesterday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke commented at length for his fellow economists at the Federal Reserve Bank on how problems in the market for subprime...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for March 2007
More "Picks of the Month" ... This post covers my picks for March 2007. Stay tuned for more picks from law journals and SSRN....
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for February 2007
Time to catch up on the ever-popular "Picks of the Month." These picks are for February 2007. ***...
As BAPCPA Enters Its "Terrible Two's," BAPCPA Guru Catherine Vance Surveys Its Unruly Landscape
To me, the greatest benefit of blogging is that it has enabled me to meet and befriend so many in the profession (lawyers, judges, and professionals alike) whom I otherwise likely would never have even met. Cathy Vance, Vice President...
The Subprime Squeeze Is Looking More Like a Hangman's Noose
A year ago, I voiced my concerns in a post entitled "The Subprime Squeeze" that the dramatic "hockey stick" growth in housing's subprime lending market was "more likely caused by looser adherence to underwriting standards than by increased demand for...
Case Roundup for Week Ended 3/18/2007
Bankruptcies may be down, but opinions sure seem to be up. Lots of interesting cases reported as of late. Here's a few recent cases, sorted by date, that I thought you'd find of interest: ***...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for January 2007
More "Picks of the Month" ... This post covers my picks for January 2007: The inset photograph, of course, is of Barack Obama, the first choice of many U of C law profs for president in the upcoming election, reading...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for December 2006
More catch up on the "Picks of the Month." This post covers my picks for December 2006: ***...
Recent BAPCPA-Related Articles of Interest Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following BAPCPA-related papers, arranged by abstract ID number, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network: Federal Reserve Bank's Astrid Andrea Dick and Andreas Lehnert: "Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Market Competition" (Abstract ID: 957778) *** Santa Clara Univ....
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for November 2006
More "Picks of the Month" ... This post includes published articles from November, 2006 that might be of interest to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for October 2006
Time to catch up on the ever-popular "Picks of the Month." This post covers my picks for October 2006: ***...
"A Year After BAPCPA": The Slugfest Continues
On December 6, the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts of the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing styled as an "Oversight of the Implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevent and Consumer Protection Act." Witnesses included Clifford J. White...
Minnesota Chief District Judge Rosenbaum Splits with Other District Courts and Holds that BAPCPA Cannot Constitutionally Designate Bankruptcy Lawyers as Federal "Debt Relief Agents"
Last summer, as part of my continuing BAPCPA Consumer Outline series, I posted an outline section entitled Attorneys as 'Debt Relief Agencies' -- Court Decisions and Constitutional Challenges, in which I reviewed various cases winding their way through the federal...
Recent BAPCPA-Related Articles of Interest Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following BAPCPA-related papers, arranged by abstract ID number, can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network: Univ. Of Florida's Amy K. Yarbrough and Jacksonville State University's Robert J. Landry III: "Navigating the Social Safety Net: A State-level Analysis...
Lindquist & Vennum's George Singer Publishes a 108 Page Tome (with 586 Footnotes) Reviewing BAPCPA's Convoluted First Year in the Courts
Last summer I posted a nine-part outline reviewing BAPCPA's early decisions in the consumer arena. Recently, Linquist & Vennum's George Singer, former staff attorney for the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, completed his own 108 page tome on significant business and...
Grandpa's Reflections on a Year of Bankruptcy Blogging
I suppose that moment comes in everyone’s life. The first time someone calls you a “grandfather” (or the geriatric equivalent thereof). I faced that first reality check yesterday from, of all places, The Daily Bankruptcy Review, which ran this story...
Happy Birthday, BAPCPA? Thoughts on Some of BAPCPA's "Conventional Wisdoms"
Today, glasses in some halls of Congress are probably clinking in honor of BAPCPA's first birthday. But is America really better off? Are creditors really getting paid more because fewer consumers file for bankruptcy? The one major advantage to a...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for September 2006
Here are the "Picks of the Month" for September 2006, my monthly guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
BAPCPA Outline: Parts VII through XVII -- The End of the Outline, But the Cacophony Continues
Many have anxiously awaited more updates to my BAPCPA outline. But every time I'm about to turn to another section, some new decision, argument, or news bit distracts me from posting additional sections. At the rate things are going, and...
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for August 2006
Here are the "Picks of the Month" for August 2006, my monthly guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
Duck Soup: NY's Judge Burton Lifland Nixes Dana Corp.'s "Incentive" Plan for Its Top Six Executives
Though its origins are murky, the slang phrase "duck soup" is typically understood to mean "a piece of cake" or "something that is easily done." The Marx Brothers made the phrase famous in their movie Duck Soup, which Roger Ebert...
May It Please the Court? The US Supreme Court to Soon Decide Whether a "Bad Faith" Debtor "May" Do as the Bankruptcy Code Pleases
Elementary courtroom etiquette, and indeed an absolute tradition in Supreme Court argument, requires counsel to first address the Court with the customary respectful opening of, "May it please the Court." The lone bankruptcy-related case before the US Supreme Court...
Nineteen Recent BAPCPA-Related Articles of Interest Available on SSRN
Time to take a break from BAPCPA case law outlines to consider some interesting BAPCPA-related scholarly articles that are available for downloading from the Social Science Research Network (sorted by SSRN ID No): *** University of Illinois College of Law's...
Picks of the Month: Required Reading for June 2006
Here are the "Picks of the Month" for June 2006, my monthly guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
Texas District Court Rules that BAPCPA's Section 526(a)(4) Unconstitutionally Restricts a "Debt Relief Agent's" Free Speech Rights, But Section 527 Doesn't
A month ago, as part of my continuing BAPCPA Consumer Outline series, I posted an outline section entitled Attorneys as 'Debt Relief Agencies' -- Court Decisions and Constitutional Challenges, in which I reviewed various cases winding their way through the...
New Colonizers of the Bankruptcy Blogosphere
About a year ago, I was moved to start this blog primarily because of the surprising dearth of blogs that addressed bankruptcy-related issues. Well, colonization of the bankruptcy blogosphere has increased significantly since. Here are a few recent entrants that...
Picks of the Month: Required Reading for April 2006
Here are the "Picks of the Month" for April 2006, our ever-popular guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
BAPCPA Outline: Part VI, Sections A-I: Chapter 7 Liquidations -- Means Testing: Is Its Bark Worse Than Its Bite?
One idiomatic expression that translates well in any language is "his bark is worse than his bite" (which I suppose is a testament to the universality of both dogs and common sense). This expression comes to mind when considering BAPCPA's...
BAPCPA Outline: Part V, Sections A-J: Credit Counseling -- BAPCPA's Exercise in Futility
This seventh post of the BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Outline for cases decided between 6/1/05 and 5/31/06 addresses one of BAPCPA's worst provisions, the requirement that all consumer debtors obtain credit counseling in order to be eligible for bankruptcy. Because these...
BAPCPA Outline: Part IV, Sections A-N: Homestead Exemptions -- "To Cap or Not to Cap?" -- That's No Longer a Question
This sixth post of the BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Outline for cases decided between 6/1/05 and 5/31/06 addresses homestead exemptions. As reported here, this area absorbed a signficant amount of judicial energy in the early days following BAPCPA's enactment as courts...
BAPCPA Outline: Part III, Sections A & B: Attorneys as "Debt Relief Agencies" -- Court Decisions and Constitutional Challenges
This fifth post of the BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Outline addresses the issue of attorney liability under BAPCPA arising from the new "debt relief agency" provisions of Sections 526, 527, and 528 (see pdf at pp. 88-91). Absent a court order...
BAPCPA Outline: Part II, Sections A & B -- The Hanging Paragraph: Section 1325(a)(*) -- The "Car Loan Protection" Provision: The Law of Intended and Unintended Consequences
This fourth post of the BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Outline for cases decided between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006 addresses the so-called "hanging paragraph" at the end of Section 1325(a), a good example of how BAPCPA could have used...
"Plain Meaning" Through Bankruptcy Bifocals: A Surprising Coalition Joins Justice Ginsburg in Narrowing the Bankruptcy Code's "Plain Meaning" in Howard Delivery v. Zurich
Yesterday's Supreme Court head-scratcher is Howard Delivery Serv., Inc. v. Zurich American Ins. Co., 2006 WL 1639224 (pdf), a delightful opinion in which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (for a majority that surprisingly included Justices Scalia and Thomas) took on every...
BAPCPA Outline: Part I, Section C - Judicial Commentary: Attempts at Uniformity
This third post of the BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Outline addresses attempts at uniformity by the bench in rendering decisions on BAPCPA's confusing laws. These attempts have been manifested in various forms, including: En banc review established by rules of the...
BAPCPA Outline: Part I, Section B - Judicial Commentary: BAPCPA's "Plain Meaning" Not Followed
This second post, corresponding to Part I, Section B of the BAPCPA / Consumer Bankruptcy Law Outline is titled: BAPCPA's "Plain Meaning" Not Followed. This section points to 5 cases over the past year where bankruptcy judges were so confounded...
BAPCPA Outline: Part I, Section A - Judicial Commentary on BAPCPA: Venting
The "Great American Consumer Bankruptcy Outline" -- a 102 page treatise on consumer bankruptcy case law developments in the past year -- is now (thankfully) complete. Special thanks to my wife and two children, without whose unwavering support, this project...
The "Mother of All BAPCPA Consumer Bankruptcy Law Outlines," Soon Available for Your Reading Pleasure
Early this spring, when BAPCPA bashing had become "so very smashing!" (culminating in this post about the latest BAPCPA bashing opinion), I returned to my desk one sunny afternoon and retrieved from my voice mail a message from someone identifying...
Everything Starts Somewhere: DSI's Catherine Vance Unlocks the Mystery Behind the Origin of BAPCPA's Section 1102(b)(3), Which Requires a Creditors' Committee to Provide Creditors with Access to Information and a Ready Ear - Part I
Catherine E. Vance, DSI's research and policy guru, is as steeped in the legislative history of BAPCPA as you'll find. During BAPCPA's most formative and "tumultuous years," starting in 1998, Cathy viewed BAPCPA's development from the unique vantage point of...
BAPCPA and FDCPA: A Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyer's "Bramble Bush"
The famed early English jurist Henry De Bracton (1210-1268), cited in Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 764 nn.3-4 (1999) as the "earliest source for the common law immunity of the King," is also the first to have said, "An...
Judge Isgur Holds that the Automatic Stay Doesn't Apply to Ineligible Debtors Under BAPCPA Who Failed to Get Credit Counseling
Houston's Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur again takes the forefront in interpreting BAPCPA's thorny provisions (as he did here, here, and here), this time issuing a controversial opinion on whether the automatic stay applies to ineligible debtors whose cases have been...
7 BAPCPA Related Papers Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following BAPCPA related working papers can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network: *** Univ. of Wisconsin's Jodi L. Bellovary & Marquette Univ.'s Don E. Giacomino & Michael D. Akers: "A Review of Bankruptcy Prediction Studies: 1930 to...
Denver's Judge Sidney Brooks Joins the BAPCPA Bashing Bandwagon as the Litigants Submit Poetic Dirges Lamenting BAPCPA's Incomprehensibility
Add Bankruptcy Judge Sidney Brooks, Chief Judge for the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, to the growing list of prominent judges (such as those mentioned here (Judge Monroe), here (Judge Markell), here (Judge Isgur), here (Judge Mark), and...
Hope Springs Eternal in Chicago, Even for Bankruptcy Pros Struggling with BAPCPA
As every Cub fan is painfully aware, hope springs eternal around this time every year in Chicago. This year, of course, is notable because -- for the first time in recent memory -- hope is springing (even if not eternally)...
Arbitration Clauses in Delaware and the Third Circuit Recently Examined
Congratulations are in order for fellow blogger and friend, Francis X. Pileggi of the Delaware Litigation Blog, who's made some new law in Delaware. As he reports here, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion on March 14 (which favored...
The Subprime Squeeze
The Wall Street Journal's James Haggerty wrote thi$ 3/11/06 article entitled "Millions Are Facing Monthly Squeeze On House Payments." In it, he provides some disturbing data regarding the subprime lending industry, including a graph showing subprime lending originations increasing from...
Say What? ... Florida's Judge Jay Cristol Waives Credit Counseling Requirement for Creole-Speaking Debtor Who Couldn't Understand English
A recent comment here asked whether one can get away with getting credit counseling just one day in advance of the bankruptcy filing. The cases answer this question with a resounding NO! As with most statutory schemes, however, it doesn't...
Judge Leif Clark Cites to Adam Sandler's "Billy Madison" in Dismissing Pro Se Defendant's Convoluted Motion
In an article entitled A Matter of Style, 19-SEP Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 32 (2000), San Antonio's Bankruptcy Judge Leif M. Clark wrote these noteworthy remarks: A lawyer is more than a mouthpiece, more than an agent, more than a...
Judges in the News: The Southern District of Florida's Bench Gains Two Strong Practitioners
I just learned that two very able bankruptcy lawyers from Florida are leaving private practice to further distinguish themselves as bankruptcy judges for the Southern District of Florida. Congratulations to John Olson, formerly of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff &...
Judge Markell Invokes Justice Antonin Scalia's Canons of Statutory Construction Over the Philosophical Theories of Ludwig Wittgenstein in Resolving the Judicial Debate Over How to Close BAPCPA's New "Mansion Loophole"
Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell, whose courtroom is in Las Vegas, has written extensively on bankruptcy law topics. His first article, written in 1988 following his becoming a partner in Sidley & Austin's LA office, was entitled Toward True and Plain...
Social Justice through a Bankruptcy Prism: Welcoming "Social Justice" to the Blogosphere
Welcome to "Social Justice," an upstart blog that focuses on "poverty and social stratification in America." What separates this blog from many other "bleeding-heart" blogs is that this one is written from the unique perspective of a bankruptcy lawyer, who...
Judge Monroe Tells It Like It Is: BAPCPA Is a Fiasco Because Congress Sold Out Individual Consumers to Special Interest Groups
Remember back in October 2005, in the week before BAPCPA became effective, when about 500,000 Americans from every race, color, and creed decided they'd be better off filing bankruptcy than risking the possibility they'd have to enter BAPCPA's inferno at...
US Supreme Court Rules in Central Virginia v. Katz That States Are Not Immune from Preference Actions
As reported here (SCOTUS blog), here (PrawfsBlawg), here (Volokh), here (Crime & Federalism), and here (Althouse), the US Supreme Court today ruled, in a 5-4 decision (pdf) authored by Justice Stevens, that states are not immune from bankruptcy preference actions....
Georgia's Bankruptcy Courts Split on Whether to Hold Sua Sponte that Attorneys Are Not "Debt Relief Agencies" under BAPCPA
As reported here, on October 17, 2005, the day BAPCPA went effective, Judge Lamar W. Davis, Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Georgia, ruled sua sponte that attorneys who are members of the bar...
US Supreme Court Asked to Interpret Scope of 1978 Bankruptcy Code Amendment that Was Designed to Overrule Two Prior Supreme Court's Holdings on Wage Priorities in Bankruptcy
The latest revelation regarding Judge Alito's past is that he wrote a memo in 1986, while a lawyer for the Reagan administration, in which he advised the president to expressly declare the president's understanding of a bill at the time...
Seven BAPCPA-Related Working Papers Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following seven BAPCPA-related working papers can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network: *** University of Arizona Law School's Jean Braucher, Rash and Ride-Through Redux: The Terms for Holding on to Cars, Homes and Other Collateral under the...
Picks of the Month: Required Reading for December 2005
Here are our "Picks of the Month" for December 2005, a monthly guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge: ***...
Judge Isgur Cites to the Gettysburg Address as Basis for Rejecting "First Blush" Interpretation of BAPCPA's Multiple Serial Filer Stay Provisions
Houston's Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur, the leading author of opinions of first impression interpreting BAPCPA's provisions as they relate to consumer debtors (see here, here (Charles case), here, and here), tackles another thorny issue of first impression in In re...
Who's Really Feasting in Chapter 11 Cases? Professor Lubben Provides a New Perspective on This Perennial Question
Professor Stephen J. Lubben, a former Skadden Arps associate, now Seton Hall law professor, and no stranger to the phenomenon of "feasting" in bankruptcy, has just made available for the general public's review his latest working draft of a paper...
Enron's Retention Bonuses Avoided by Texas Court as Preferential Transfers and Intentional and Constructive Fraudulent Transfers
Thanks to Tom Kirkendall for his post on his Houston's Clear Thinkers blog to a 102 page opinion (available here also) issued by Dallas' Bankruptcy Judge Robert McGuire in a case that challenged the grant (and funding) of over $100...
Judge Isgur Provides Benchmark Analysis of a Serial Filer's Rights under BAPCPA to Obtain an Extension of the Automatic Stay Beyond 30 Days
Houston's Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur, who's rapidly establishing himself as the "go to" judge on BAPCPA's hot issues, delivered another strong opinion (see references here and here for his other BAPCPA-related decisions), this time on the right of a serial...
More BAPCPA Decisions from November 2005
Below you'll find more case summaries on the following BAPCPA-related decisions from bankruptcy courts around the nation: *** BAPCPA - Automatic Stay - Serial Filers: In re Collins, 2005 WL 3163962 (Bankr. D. Minn., 11/29/05). BAPCPA - Automatic Stay -...
Some BAPCPA Decisions from October/November 2005
Below is a roundup of recent cases interpreting BAPCPA's new additions to the Bankruptcy Code. Judge Mark recently noted (referenced here) that BAPCPA "is not a model of clarity." Similarly, Judge Isgur recently said (see below) that BAPCPA can be...
Professors Warren and Zywicki Clash on BAPCPA's Effects on the Rights of "Support Claimants"
Professor Elizabeth Warren provides a cup of bitter coffee at the TPM Cafe Blog in her post entitled "The Bankruptcy Wars Continue." Here, she summarizes current attacks on BAPCPA's harsher anti-consumer provisions, including a citation to an article from the...
BAPCPA in the News
Below are some news articles referencing BAPCPA-related topics we thought you'd find interesting. ***...
BAPCPA in the Blogs
Below are some notable BAPCPA-related blog posts that have caught our eye as of late. ***...
Delphi's "Key Employee Compensation Program": What the parties are telling the Court
We've heard a lot in the news about the fight between management and labor in the Delphi case. What gets in front of the Bankruptcy Court, however, is evidence and legal argument, not newspaper stories and press releases. With a...
Weekly Blog Roundup on Bankruptcy-Related Topics for the Week Ended 11/25/05
Below are notable blog posts on the following topical bankruptcy issues of interest to the bankruptcy litigator and practitioner for the week ending 11/25/05. *** Judge Alito's Bankruptcy Jurisprudence The Portland Archdiocese Disclosure Statement Filing The Problem of Legal Valuation...
Six Bankruptcy-Related Working Papers Available for Downloading from SSRN
The following six bankruptcy-related working papers can be downloaded from the Social Science Research Network: *** University of Texas Law School's A. Mechele Dickerson: "Words that Wound: Defining, Discussing, and Defeating Bankruptcy 'Corruption'." *** Harvard Law School's Ethan Bernstein: "All's...
On Second Thought... Texas Bankruptcy Court Reverses Its "Don't Mess With Texas" Stance Based on Lack of Proof of Availability of Credit Counseling
In a prior post, I wrote: The old phrase "Don't Mess with Texas" rings true in today's ruling from the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas, In re Hubbard, 2005 WL 2847420 (Bankr. S.D. Tex., 11/2/05), where the...
BAPCPA's "Plain Meaning" Requires That a Consumer Debtor's Feet Be Held to the Fire
The "don't mess with Texas" attitude described earlier regarding a Texas bankruptcy court's hard-nosed reading of the credit counseling requirements of BAPCPA's new "bankruptcy abuse" provisions seems to be sweeping the land, as recently demonstrated in bankruptcy court decisions from...
Weekly Blog Roundup on Bankruptcy-Related Topics for the Week Ended 11/11/05
Below are notable blog posts on topical bankruptcy issues of interest to the bankruptcy litigator and practitioner for the week ending 11/11/05. Enjoy! Meanwhile, Cassie and I are off to LexThink's BlawgThink 2005 Conference, described as the "first of its...
BAPCPA's Homestead Exemption: A Third Judge Weighs In on the Debate
In In re Virissimo, 2005 WL 2854341 (Bankr. D. Nev., 10/31/05), Judge Linda B. Riegle of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada sided with Judge Robert Mark, Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District...
Don't Mess with Texas: Texas Bankruptcy Court Denies Request for Extension of Time to Provide Verification of Credit Counseling
The old phrase "Don't Mess with Texas" rings true in today's ruling from the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas, In re Hubbard, (2005 WL 2847420) (Bankr. S.D. Tex., 11/2/05), where the Court denied a chapter 13 debtor's...
Solve this Brainteaser: How Can the Bankruptcy Code Best Be Amended to Forever Bury the Holding of Moore v. Bay?
The strong feedback to recent posts (here and here) (including by our friends at The Volkoh Conspiracy) regarding the unjust windfall to bankruptcy estates from Moore v. Bay, 284 U.S. 1 (1931), led us internally to discuss which would more...
Picks of the Month: Required Reading for October 2005
Here are our "Picks of the Month": a monthly reading guide to recently published articles of relevance to the bankruptcy practitioner, scholar, student, and Judge:...
Bankruptcy Court Affirms Constitutionality of BAPCPA's Deprizio Amendment
While I've spent quite of bit of time bashing BAPCPA, it's not all bad. One change, for example, that was long overdue was an amendment to the Bankruptcy Code that addressed the so-called "Deprizio problem," a problem the drafters of...
Georgia Bankruptcy Court Rules Sua Sponte that Attorneys Admitted to Practice in the District are Not "Debt Relief Agencies" Under BAPCPA
In the first case to address who is (or is not) a "debt relief agency" under BAPCPA, an important question given the "new and significant restrictions on the activities of debt relief agencies," Judge Lamar W. Davis, Chief Bankruptcy Judge...
BAPCPA Looks More Like BARF to Those in the Thick of It
Something's very wrong when an estimated 500,000 Americans felt compelled in the last week to file for bankruptcy in order to avoid the chance that if they do have to file in the future, they'll regret not having done so...
NYT Reports on Concerns Regarding Potential Conflicts Spawned by BAPCPA's Pre-Filing Credit Counseling Requirement
This New York Times story reports on the potential conflicts of interest at credit counseling firms, whose advice must (in all but emergency situations) be first sought by consumer debtors in advance of their filing for bankruptcy following BAPCPA's October...
The Big Squeeze, as Portrayed in "Big Box Mart" -- JibJab's New Clip and the Coming Squeeze of Middle America
You have to check out JibJab's new movie, Big Box Mart. Another JibJab classic. Get there early, because if the past is any guide, the servers are going to be overwhelmed with traffic. This short clip makes you laugh at...
Guess Who Might Benefit Most from BAPCPA?
With the effective date of the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" (BAPCPA) fast approaching (October 17, 2005), this recent article from The National Law Journal provides some helpful hints on BAPCPA's changes to the law, practice,...
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