Ethical Issues in Bankruptcy Cases Part V

By Paul W. Bonapfel, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Georgia *

Representation of Corporations and Other Entities

A lawyer's duties in the first instance arise out of a relationship with a client. Thus, it is critical to determine who the client is.

Model Rule 1.13 adopts the Aentity@ theory of representation of client organizations, which is that the lawyer's client is the corporation (or other entity), and not its board of directors, officers, or managers. 1 Model Rule . . .

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From the Editor – Discharge

June 7, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Hardship discharge denied. Section 1328(b)’s requirements for hardship discharge are conjunctive and failure to satisfy any one of three conditions results in denial. Reviewing judicial decisions on requirements of the statute, the court considered “the extent of a debtor’s accountability and degree of control; the substantiality and foreseeability of the changed circumstances at...

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Practice Pointers for Arguing Motions

December 6, 2020

By William Sawyer, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) (Used with permission. Court News and Views, Volume 18, October 2020) Lawyers who practice regularly in bankruptcy court invariably make many appearances at motion dockets. This article provides practice pointers to lawyers who do not practice often in this Court to familiarize them with our procedures...

Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

Nancy B. Rapoport

June 25, 2023

Dear Readers: By now, I’m hoping that all of you are aware of the sad story of the plaintiff’s lawyers in Mata v. Avianca, Inc., Case No. 22-cv-1461 (PKC) (S.D.N.Y). Lawyer A used ChatGPT to “research” a brief; Lawyer A was not admitted in the jurisdiction, so Lawyer B (same firm) entered a notice of appearance; Lawyer B filed Lawyer...

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ABI Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – Remedies for Discharge Violation

May 12, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee (Nashville, TN) One of the principle goals of a consumer that chooses to file bankruptcy is to obtain a discharge under § 524. Despite its importance, however, there is much more legal discussion on the logistics and the process of automatic stay under § 362 that is in existence during the pendency...

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Reconversion to Chapter 13 – Betwixt and Between?

Michael B. Joseph

January 21, 2024

“Is it possible to voluntarily convert a chapter 13 case to chapter 7, and later reconvert back to chapter 13? There is a split of authority on whether this maneuver is allowed.”

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The Collector

The Academy

January 14, 2024

Bankruptcy Judge (E.D. Washington) serves up classics with wooden tennis racket collection.

Critical Case Comment – Separate Class Classy Option for Student Loans

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

January 14, 2024

In some instances, this case could be a real game-changer for dealing with student loans. Chapter 13 plan may classify student loans in a separate class!

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Substantial Contribution Claims

June 9, 2019

By Nicholas Miller, Third-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law, and Madison Haueisen, Second-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law The second issue at hand in this year’s Duberstein moot court problem involves a matter of statutory interpretation—specifically, whether §503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a creditor to recover costs and expenses incurred in making a substantial contribution...

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Is an Unemployment Compensation Payment Exempt?

May 17, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction As of April 16, 2020, more than 22,000,000 people in the United States were reported to have filed for unemployment aid, "a staggering loss of jobs that has wiped out a decade of employment gains and pushed families to line up at food banks as they await government help."1...

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While Chapter 7 Filings Continue to Decline, Chapter 13 Filings are Trending Slightly Upward

Kevin R. Anderson

April 24, 2022

Recent headlines noted that March 2022 saw a 33.5% increase in bankruptcy filings over February. This could suggest the coming swell in bankruptcy cases anticipated since the start of the COVID pandemic. However, bankruptcy professionals recognize that consumer filings always spike in March (see chart). This phenomenon is usually attributed to the tendency to avoid filing in January and February...

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