By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Part VII Introduction This series focuses on four bankruptcy-related bills that were enacted during the 116th Congress and signed into law on August 23, 2019. One bill, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), will be effective February 19, 2020. It appears in its entirety in Appendix B to...

By Regina Logsdon, Academy Executive Director Erin M. McCartney was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of Nebraska beginning on January 1, 2022.  Erin stepped into metaphorically very large and capable shoes as she replaced retiring Kathleen Laughlin.  Erin grew up in Illinois, graduating college from Bradley University in Peoria (Go Braves!).  Law school required a...

On June 26, 2017, Bradford W. Caraway was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division. He replaced D. Sims Crawford who had been appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Trustee Caraway maintains his office in Birmingham. At the time of his appointment as Standing Trustee,...

In order to modify a plan confirmed under Chapter 12 pursuant to § 1229, the movant must demonstrate that there was a substantial change in circumstances that is sufficient to justify modification of a plan.  (Norton) Farm Credit Services of America PCA v. Swackhammer, 2023 WL 3591920 (8th Cir. BAP May 23, 2023) Case Summary The Swackhammers were farmers who...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) While in personam liability of a junior mortgage on the debtor’s residence is discharged by a Chapter 7, the lien survives and constitutes an allowed unsecured claim in the debtor’s subsequent Chapter 13 case. In re Hopper, 2021 WL 3435445 (Bankr. E.D. N.Y. Aug....

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Three-month delay in completing bare-bones petition. When the Chapter 13 debtor filed a skeletal petition, her motion for more time to complete schedules, statement and plan was denied, with no cause found for extending time after three-month delay, and show cause hearing was set to determine if case should be dismissed with 180-day...

Judge Raymond Lohier (Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals) Shares His Immigration Story and the Diverse Perspective it Brings

In June of 2017 Michele T. Hatcher was appointed Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Alabama, Northern Division. Ms. Hatcher replaces retiring Trustee Michael Ford. She maintains her office in the quaint Southern town of Decatur which is nicknamed “The River City” because it is on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. Prior to...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of TN (Nashville) Where pro se debtors filed numerous groundless complaints and made specious allegations against their former counsel, sanctions under Rule 9011 were appropriate notwithstanding the fact that the debtors were now acting pro se. (Hopkins) In re Jones, 2021 WL 4168110 (Bankr. S.D. O.H., Sept....

David A. Mawhinney is the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Central and Western Divisions of Massachusetts and a Subchapter V Trustee for Region One. He replaced Denise M. Pappalardo upon her retirement which was effective December 24, 2022. David is a 2002 graduate of Boston College and received his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2011. When David started...