From the Editor

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Mediator is professional person and employment requires court approval. The Chapter 7 trustee moved to toll the time for filing a recovery complaint to permit the parties to conduct mediation, using a retired bankruptcy judge as mediator, and the bankruptcy court questioned whether the trustee would bill for his time in participating in the mediation and would use estate funds to pay a portion of the mediator’s fee. The resulting opinion found that a trustee in any case would not be permitted to unilaterally agree to mediation for . . .

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

No Author Biography has been linked to this Article.

SBRA – The Sequel: Leases in Bankruptcy Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

February 21, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction The Academy has focused at length on the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA).1 SBRA deals on its face with a non-consumer topic, but it is of interest also to Chapter 12 and 13 trustees and debtors, creating a new, more debtor-friendly subchapter V of Chapter 11 for...

Members

Chris Hawkins Appointed Judge

The Academy

March 20, 2022

Chris Hawkins was sworn in as a bankruptcy judge for the Middle District of Alabama on March 14, 2022, succeeding Judge William R. Sawyer. Before his appointment, Chris was a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, where he focused exclusively on bankruptcy and insolvency matters. For over twenty years, he represented debtors and creditors in out-of-court restructurings, commercial and...

Assumption of Auto Lease in Chapter 7 Requires No Court Approval Says the 9th Circuit: In re Bobka

May 9, 2021

By Matthew D. Resnik, Resnik Hayes Moradi, LLP (Encino, CA) In Bobka v. Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (In re Bobka), 968 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. August, 2020), the chapter 7 debtor wanted to retain her leased Toyota. Toyota sent her an "assumption agreement" which she signed and returned to Toyota the day before she received her discharge. By then she...

Members

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...

Critical Case Comment – Repeat: No Fee Splitting

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 23, 2022

A referral fee by retained special counsel paid to debtor’s attorney violates the prohibition in § 504 in that it constitutes an unauthorized splitting of attorney’s fees. (Williamson) In re Davis, 638 B.R. 198 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. March 31, 2022) Case Summary Four years after Lisa Davis filed her Chapter 13 petition, she was involved in an auto accident resulting...

Members

Escrow 101 – Part 3 of 3

September 19, 2021

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 – Part 1 Escrow 101 – Part 2 Escrow 102 – Part 1 Escrow 102 – Part 2

Members

March 17, 2019

By Wm. Houston Brown, United States Bankruptcy Judge (Retired) Confirmation - Bankruptcy court could not sua sponte object to confirmation. Distinguishing between “self-executing” provisions of the Code and those sections that were not “self-executing,” and discussing Espinosa’s impact on that distinction, District Court held that the bankruptcy court could not sua sponte object to confirmation based on the above- median...

Members

Bankruptcy Court Finds Jurisdiction to Hear Discharge-Injunction Violation Class Action

May 9, 2021

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction The Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled last month, in a case styled In re Ajasa,1 that bankruptcy courts have subject matter jurisdiction to consider nationwide class actions that allege contempt of discharge injunctions. The broader effect of the opinion is that a discharge injunction...

Members

The Effect of “Success” (Or the Lack of It) on Attorneys’ Fees

Lawrence R. Ahern, III

September 18, 2022

Appendix A 1994 Revised Text of 11 U.S.C. § 330(a), with 2005's Minor Changes Highlighted(1994 version highlighted to show additions and deletions in 2005) (a)(1) After notice to the parties in interest and the United States Trustee and a hearing, and subject to sections 326, 328, and 329, the court may award to a trustee, a consumer privacy ombudsman appointed...

Members

13 documents by Independence Software – Encrypted and Scans for PII

December 6, 2020

13 documents by Independence Software – Identity theft is a real and constant threat when transmitting information through the Internet. For Trusteeships, using e-mail to receive documents from the debtor bar is insecure, placing sensitive debtor information at risk. Founded in 2011, 13 Documents is unlike other filing systems — it is a complete document management solution for your Trusteeship...

From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney and Other Professionals

Link to Post:

It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to members.

Or Sign In Below:

Related Articles

SBRA – The Sequel: Leases in Bankruptcy Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

Chris Hawkins Appointed Judge

Assumption of Auto Lease in Chapter 7 Requires No Court Approval Says the 9th Circuit: In re Bobka

Practice Pointers for Arguing Motions

Critical Case Comment – Repeat: No Fee Splitting

Escrow 101 – Part 3 of 3

From the Editor

Bankruptcy Court Finds Jurisdiction to Hear Discharge-Injunction Violation Class Action

The Effect of “Success” (Or the Lack of It) on Attorneys’ Fees

13 documents by Independence Software – Encrypted and Scans for PII

Academy

Members

Website

Legal