From the Editor

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired)

Dismissal of Case - Debtor’s attorney’s failure to file timely appeal of dismissal was not excusable neglect. Affirming, the First Circuit held that the bankruptcy court had wide discretion and there was no abuse in denial of the debtor’s motion for extension of time to appeal. The debtor failed to establish excusable neglect by her attorney’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal, and there was “no error in the bankruptcy court’s rational determination that counsel’s carelessness [in missing . . .

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.

Related Articles

rmichaelsmith
October 23, 2022
The recent push for student loan forgiveness has been met with increasing opposition. The rationales for not providing a generally applicable path for student loan forgiveness or cancellation have included arguments based upon imagined unfairness to those previously able to pay off their loans, which seems to be both short-sighted, as well as a “red herring” argument. It does not...
September 8, 2019
By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) The Federal Reserve reported that 40% of Americans couldn’t meet a $400 emergency without borrowing. A significant slice of them couldn’t pay it at all. So, a Bloomberg economist devoted his column to deconstructing how the press and political figures, in his opinion, misused that finding. OMGoodness. The guy was too caught up...
January 13, 2019
Jason Wilson-Aguilar was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, effective on October 2, 2018. He replaces retiring K. Michael (Mike) Fitzgerald who served as the Standing Trustee for nearly twenty years. During the ten years prior to his appointment as Trustee, Jason was the Senior Staff Attorney and Legal Department Manager in...
Members
June 23, 2019
By Henry E. Hildebrand, III and Sloan Hastings Section 521(a)(7) requires a chapter 7 debtor to file a statement of intention for “debts secured by the property of the estate.” The debtor must choose to (1) reaffirm the debt, (2) surrender the collateral, or (3) redeem the collateral. Reaffirming the debt contractually binds the debtor to pay the debt even...
Members
October 18, 2020
By James J. Robinson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Alabama Can the trustee challenge the debtor’s attorney’s fee? In re Rodriguez Perez, 2018 WL 3655656 (Bankr. D.P.R. 2018). In this case, the chapter 13 trustee asked the bankruptcy court to assess the contract between the debtor and counsel under § 526-528. The trustee alleged that the contract...
Members
January 2, 2022
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland recently appointed Mary Ida Townson as the U.S. Trustee for Florida, Georgia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Region 21). Ms. Townson assumed her duties in June and replaced Nancy Gargula, who is the U.S. Trustee in Region 10 and who had served as the interim U.S. Trustee in Region 21...
Copy of Hildebrand-2016
December 11, 2022
A Chapter 13 plan can be confirmed to pay a 100% dividend to unsecured creditors while maintaining payments to a student loan creditor as a long-term debt (which will not satisfy the student loan in the commitment period) without committing all available disposable income. (Mullin) In re Victoria Florita Durand-Day, 2022 WL 14938726 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. October 26, 2022) Case...
Members
August 9, 2020
By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Separate classification and preferential treatment of student loan debt. The Chapter 13 trustee and debtors’ attorney attempted to change the traditional approach in the District, seeking approval of a permissible fair discrimination in favor of student loan debt in plans so long as the preferential treatment and discrimination was no more than 20%....
Members
ahern_larry_regular
May 14, 2023
Introduction This series reviews developments in bankruptcy procedure during the past year.One new rule and amendments to 16 rules took effect December 1, 2022.  Many reflected changes necessitated by the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), and had been in place in the same or similar form on an interim basis since that legislation took effect.
Members
September 29, 2019
By The Honorable Guy R. Humphrey, Southern District of Ohio It is with heavy hearts that we in Dayton, Ohio say our farewells to Jeff Kellner as our Chapter 13 Trustee. Jeff will be concluding his duties as the Trustee on September 30th and handing the reins over to John Jansing on October 1st. Listing Jeff’s contributions to the bankruptcy...