From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney • NACTT Academy

From the Editor – Debtor’s Attorney

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Disgorgement of fees denied. The Chapter 13 trustee moved for the debtor’s attorney to disgorge $4,000 prepetition fee under Rule 2017 and § 329, asserting that the fee was excessive because of debtor’s ineligibility for Chapter 13, exceeding the unsecured debt limit. Finding that the debtor’s goal was to delay a state-court contempt proceeding and postpone enforcement of a dissolution judgment, he got what was bargained for in paying $4,000 fee, and the debtor was not overcharged. The attorney might be subject to sanction . . .

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