Introduction In In re Village Apothecary, Inc.,1 the Sixth Circuit recently cut an attorney's fee by half, where the services were not successful. The panel held that the results obtained (or, actually, the lack of results) justified the dramatic reduction of the fees of attorneys for a Chapter 7 trustee. In Part 1, we looked at . . . It...

The issuance of a subpoena to a Chapter 7 trustee by a third party was subject to the Barton Doctrine and could not be permitted without the parties seeking bankruptcy court consent. (Clarkson) In re Eagan Avenatti, LLP, 2022 WL 630332 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. March 3, 2022) Case Summary Eagan Avenatti, LLP, was the California law firm of the somewhat...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) While the best interests of creditors test is applicable upon modification of a Chapter 13 plan, post-petition acquired property of the estate is not included in such analysis in that such property would not be property of a Chapter 7 estate. (Somers) In re Taylor, 2021 WL 3118824 (Bankr....

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) PART III: The Lower Courts Struggle with Arbitration Guidelines Introduction Click here for Part I Click here for Part II

Recently, the Emeritus Trustees (“ETC”) commented on “How to Manage Incompetent, Unprepared, and Negligent Bankruptcy Counsel”. We now turn to ETC to share their collective wisdom when addressing the issues raised by incompetent, unprepared and unreasonable creditor counsel. CREDITOR ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION ISSUES Several ETC Trustees list the following as problematical during their tenure. Attorney claims lack of authority from creditor...

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...

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) A prior servicer of a mortgage claim subsequently transferred to another servicer could be held liable if the transferor servicer provided inadequate or incorrect information to the transferee. (Aron) In re Bivens vs. NewRez LLC (In re Bivens), 625 B.R. 843 (Bankr. M.D. N.C., March 25, 2021) Case Summary...

Intro: What is a Fulton ruling? When Chicago v Fulton (In re Fulton), 141 S Ct. 585 (Sup Ct, 2021) was first decided by the Supreme Court, there was a consensus among bankruptcy attorneys that the erosion of the automatic stay with regard to turnover was only about cars. That is, Fulton was a narrow ruling that was only about...

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...