Critical Case Comment

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville)

When Chapter 7 debtors’ counsel bifurcated services and “factored” the fees due for post-petition services and failed to adequately disclose the arrangement, the attorney violated § 329; the business of “factoring” of obligations owed to debtors’ counsel constituted an impermissible splitting of fees. (Michael) In re Roberta Ellarae Wright, et al, 2018 WL 4211570 (Bankr. N.D. Okla. Sept. 4, 2018)

Case Summary

Judge Michael consolidated 17 Chapter 7 cases, all filed by the same debtors’ counsel, to determine whether . . .

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

DeCarlo01
December 18, 2022
The Bankruptcy Code produces some difficult results. Sometimes those results pass difficult and extend into problematic. The Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho crossed well over difficult in In re Clifford, 2022 WL 16727279 (Bankr. D. Id. 2022). The question addressed in Clifford is one that comes up in every Chapter 13 case – how do we calculate “Current...
October 18, 2020
By Riley F. Tunnell, Esq., Godwin Bowman PC (Dallas, TX) The COVID-19 pandemic is not the product of a single cause. So, our remedial efforts must address a myriad of causes and rapidly developing effects. The CDC believes that delaying the onset of the mass-eviction to a time when we may be better able to manage this virus is a...
Members
May 5, 2019
By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Background Last year, the Ninth Circuit in In re Taggart1 ruled that an act in violation of the discharge injunction did not empower a court to find a creditor in contempt, if the creditor believed in good faith that the discharge injunction did not apply—even if the creditor's belief was...
Members
July 12, 2020
By Daryl J. Smith, Senior Staff Attorney to Sylvia Ford Brown, Chapter 13 Trustee (Memphis, TN) and Katherine L. Rea, Staff Attorney to Pamela Simmons-Beasley, Chapter 13 Trustee (Columbia, SC) Is there ever a reason to oppose a voluntary dismissal of a chapter 13 that has not been converted from a chapter 7? Maybe. But will you be successful? Probably...
Members
kevinanderson
April 24, 2022
Recent headlines noted that March 2022 saw a 33.5% increase in bankruptcy filings over February. This could suggest the coming swell in bankruptcy cases anticipated since the start of the COVID pandemic. However, bankruptcy professionals recognize that consumer filings always spike in March (see chart). This phenomenon is usually attributed to the tendency to avoid filing in January and February...
Members
Mark
June 5, 2022
Bankruptcy has been the focus of the Boleman Law Firm’s 30+ year history, but my law partners and I believed it was important for our firm’s long-term health to add a new practice area that would be complimentary to bankruptcy. Even though we were filing almost 250 new Chapter 7 and 13 cases every month before the pandemic, most of...
Members
June 9, 2019
By Nicholas Miller, Third-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law, and Madison Haueisen, Second-Year Student, University of Texas School of Law The second issue at hand in this year’s Duberstein moot court problem involves a matter of statutory interpretation—specifically, whether §503(b) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a creditor to recover costs and expenses incurred in making a substantial contribution...
Members
December 8, 2019
By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Part VI Two Things Debtors Should Know About the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA), Including a Primer on Chapter 11 Confirmation Introduction This series focuses on four bankruptcy-related bills that were enacted during the 116th Congress and signed into law on August 23, 2019.1 One bill, the Small...
Members
moran_cathy
October 8, 2023
“Do you have clients in an active Chapter 13 plan paying back mortgage payments that were delinquent when the case was filed?” October 16th is the deadline to file extended income tax returns.
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