Sanctions in South Carolina

In a recent case out of South Carolina, rather than a debtor seeking sanctions against a creditor, it was the creditor’s counsel who sought sanctions against counsel for a Chapter 13 debtor in an adversary proceeding.

Ruling on a Motion for Sanctions in James Defoe v. Winyah Surgical Specialists, P.A. doing business as Winyah Surgical Specialists (In re Defoe), 632 B.R. 44 (Bank. D.S.C. 2021), Judge Waites held that two attorneys for the Debtor violated the automatic stay by failing to adequately investigate allegations prior to filing a complaint to . . .

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Ashley Baxter Curry

Staff Attorney for Joseph A. Bledsoe, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina (New Bern, Fayetteville, Greenville & Wilmington Divisions)

Ashley Baxter Curry is a native of New Bern, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Economics and Political Science in 2003. She then worked for a statewide political campaign, thereafter serving as a Senate Sergeant-at-Arms in the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2009, she received her J.D. from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University, and began her legal career in bankruptcy with Stubbs & Perdue, P.A. In October, 2014, she joined Joseph A. Bledsoe, III (“Jody”), a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as his Staff Attorney. She has spoken at several seminars for the Eastern Bankruptcy Institute, held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and currently serves on the Consumer Committee for the Bankruptcy Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She and her husband, Gary, reside in New Bern with their almost-6-year-old daughter, Evie.

Critical Case Comment– Secured Creditor Granted Relief from Stay. But, Wait There’s More . . . No Proof of Claim.

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

July 24, 2022

Secured creditor in a Chapter 13 case entitled to relief from the stay due to lack of adequate protection where the creditor neglects to file a proof of claim and, as a consequent, received no payments under a Chapter 13 plan. (Conley) Weyer v. Valley Communities Credit Union, 2022 WL 1597293 (W.D. Wis. May 19, 2022) Case Summary Dana and...

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Critical Case Comment

March 31, 2019

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee When the wages of an insolvent spouse are deposited into the couple’s entireties account, both spouses are fraudulent transferees; wage deposits spent on non-necessary expenditures are recoverable from the joint account by determining the proportion to the overall share of wages in the account as...

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Absolute Right to Dismiss? Sixth Circuit Says “Yes”

August 8, 2021

By Academy Staff Section 1307(b) provides: On request of the debtor at any time, if the case has not been converted under Section 706, Section 1112, or Section 1208, the court shall dismiss a case under this chapter. This seemingly straightforward provision has generated significant litigation and produced multiple conflicting decisions. Does a Debtor have a right to dismiss a...

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Inclusion in Bankruptcy Doesn’t Equal “Discharged”

Cathy Moran

February 11, 2024

Communications Practice Pointer! Convincing clients that all of their debts must be included in bankruptcy is one of the hardest parts of being a bankruptcy lawyer. Communicating clearly with our clients, in their language, is a key part of our job. The struggle often seems Herculean.

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Critical Case Comment

January 26, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) When a case converts from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 prior to the confirmation of a plan, the Chapter 13 Trustee is not permitted to divert funds from the debtor to the debtor’s attorney. In re Lettie, 597 B.R. 637 (Bankr. E.D Wis. 2019)...

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Critical Case Comment – But It’s a GOLF CART!

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

November 20, 2022

A golf cart is a motor vehicle and may be exempted by a Chapter 7 debtor under state law. (Loyd) In re Smith, 2022 WL 3023209 (Bankr. W.D. Okla. July 28, 2022) Case Summary Bobby Smith filed a Chapter 7 petition and listed his golf cart as an exempt asset under Oklahoma law because it was a “motor vehicle.” The...

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From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney

May 17, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) No attorney fees for Chapter 7 work in converted case. In a case that began as Chapter 7 and converted to Chapter 13, the debtor’s attorney sought fees for work in the Chapter 7 phase under § 330(a)(4)(B) rather than § 330(a)(1). The Court found the better interpretation of § 330(a)(4)(B)’s language “in...

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Chapter 13 Trustee Duties, Powers, And Limitations – Part 7

November 15, 2020

By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Is the trustee’s service worth her commission? The Eleventh Circuit recently issued its opinion in In re Dukes, 909 F.3d 1306 (11th Cir. 2018), which spoke primarily to the issue of what it means for a mortgage to be “provided for” in the plan. The court found...

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Tax Projections and the Means Test – Part II

September 22, 2019

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) I wrote earlier about calculating the projected income tax deduction on the means test when the year of filing situation looks much like last year. But what if things aren't the same year over year? Your job as a bankruptcy attorney becomes more complicated. It's suddenly more than figuring the tax refund or...

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Who Gets the Trustee’s Fee and When?

August 8, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee, Middle District of TN (Nashville) Chapter 13 trustee is not compelled to return the percentage fee taken from a Chapter 13 case when the case is dismissed prior to confirmation. Harmon v. McCallister, 2021 WL 3087744 (9th Cir. BAP July 20, 2021) (Gan) Case Summary Douglas and Christine Harmon filed a Chapter...

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