From the Editor – Conversion

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Effect of assignment to debtor’s attorney on conversion. Under Harris v. Viegelahn, the trustee is not permitted to continue with prior practice of paying the debtor’s attorney fees when the confirmed case is converted to Chapter 7, notwithstanding a plan provision that provided otherwise. The Harris ruling, although directly addressing payment to prepetition creditors, is broad enough to encompass unpaid Chapter 13 administrative expenses. However, the court observed that Harris imposes a hardship on attorneys representing debtors in Chapter 13 and . . .

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