Empowering Consumer Bankruptcy Professionals Through Knowledge.

When a plan changes, so does the service dilemma and not every plan change calls for a new round of service.

Quasi-judicial and derived immunity, enjoyed by a Chapter 7 trustee, is limited and will not automatically shield a Chapter 7 trustee from answering allegations of negligence.

When does a helpful hand behind the scenes become an attorney hiding in the shadows? Ghostwriting may be friendly—or it may be fraud waiting to be exposed.

Continuing your summer reading, Judge Norton shares with subscribers a three-part outline on zealous advocacy followed by a multi-part Addendum of case summaries broken into various categories. We believe you will enjoy this resource. This week we offer the second group of cases from the Addendum finishing up those dealing with behavior. Part 1 - History of Zealous Advocacy Part 2 - How Have Courts Discussed “Zealous Advocacy”? Part 3 - Practical Takeaways Part 4 – Case Summaries – Behavior Part 5 – Case Summaries – Behavior Continued

Senate passed S. 3977, the “Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026” which permanently raises the debt limit back to $7.5 million for small businesses filing under subchapter V. It also raises the debt limit for individual chapter 13 filings to $2.75 million and removes the distinction between secured and unsecured debt for that calculation. The House of Representatives must still pass the legislation but there appears to be consent, so it may happen any time.

Corrine Bielejeski Appointed Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of California

“For the past seven months, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees has hosted and participated in a working group (the “Working Group”) comprised of individuals from the financial services industry. . . . The Working Group’s stated purpose was to discuss the issues, concerns and challenges involved with providing debtors in consumer bankruptcy cases with the ability to make online post-petition payments to creditors holding secured claims and access to online account information related to such claims.”

Continuing your summer reading, Judge Norton shares with subscribers a three-part outline on zealous advocacy followed by a multi-part Addendum of case summaries broken into various categories. We believe you will enjoy this resource. This week we offer the second group of cases from the Addendum finishing up those dealing with behavior. Part 1 - History of Zealous Advocacy Part 2 - How Have Courts Discussed “Zealous Advocacy”? Part 3 - Practical Takeaways Part 4 – Case Summaries – Behavior

Post-petition use of a “kill switch” disabling debtor’s leased automobile after receiving oral notice by the debtor that he had filed Chapter 13 constituted a willful violation of the automatic stay justifying the award of damages and, when egregious, punitive damages.

Continuing your summer reading, Judge Norton shares with subscribers a three-part outline on zealous advocacy followed by a multi-part Addendum of case summaries broken into various categories. We believe you will enjoy this resource. This week we offer the first group of cases from the Addendum. These cases deal with behavior. Part 1 - History of Zealous Advocacy Part 2 - How Have Courts Discussed “Zealous Advocacy”? Part 3 - Practical Takeaways

Consumer bankruptcy lawyers are seeing clients with solar panel debt. In Part 1, Mark Leffler provides a background for multi-district class action litigation in Minnesota and other enforcement actions by AG’s in Minnesota and Virginia concerning financing of rooftop solar panels. This, Part 2, examines legal issues underlying the fraud claims in the litigation.