Arbitration in Bankruptcy: Reading Opinions & Tea Leaves in Recent Supreme Court & Lower Court Actions

By Jan Sensenich, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of Vermont I think it was in junior high school when I first started wearing glasses. I remember not liking the idea of having to wear glasses. I thought I could see just fine. As far as I knew, I was seeing what I needed to see. But I also...

By Stacey A. O’Stafy, Staff Attorney, Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee Faye D. English (Columbus, OH) An above median Chapter 13 debtor settles a workers’ compensation claim and wants to use the exempt settlement proceeds1 to pay off her 100% dividend plan in month 38 – can she? In this simple scenario, the answer is yes. Pursuant to 11...

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) Once again, I sat in a 341 meeting where the trustee’s representative purported to deliver vital information to the assembled debtors. She had a captive audience of anxious listeners. She had ostensible power of life and death over their financial future. They needed to know what she had to say. But as communication,...

Under the CARES Act 11 USC § 1329 was amended to include a temporary provision that permitted confirmed chapter 13 plans to extend the plan term to up to 84 months. To do so, debtors were required to show they were affected by COVID, § 1329(d).i The maximum term under 11 USC §1329(c) has always been 60 months. Under the...

Appeals Court Names Erie Lawyer as Newest Bankruptcy Judge – John C. Melaragno has been named the new judge for the Erie Division of U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

By Shannon Garrett, Esq. (Topeka, KS) As a Debtor’s bankruptcy practitioner, I was encouraged to see Senator Warren’s proposed reform plan. Bankruptcy is one of the few areas where bipartisan support and action are possible, and being a fan of the current structure, I welcome the reform as a chance to make a good system better. Chapter 7 and Chapter...

UPDATE-PUBLIC NOTICE: Multifactor Authentication and Updated Password Standards for PACER and CM/ECF  Starting mid-May, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) began enforcing several security features for PACER which included multifactor authentication (MFA) and updated password standards. However, since implementing these security features, PACER Service Center (PSC) has experienced extremely long call wait times due to the enforcement of these...

Just when you thought you figured out the means test, a debtor throws you a curveball. Like the Naked City, there are eight million means test stories out there. This is one of them. I was reviewing a petition that a young lawyer I mentor was prepared to file. The debtor is recently married and he and his bride each make...