On More Effective Writing

(Used with permission. First published in the Southern District of Florida Courthouse Beacon, December 2021)

Imagine this is an article entitled Wiley Champion, Esq. Instructs How To Win Your Case Every Time. Enticing for sure. You start reading. The opening paragraph needlessly re-states the title, needlessly names the author, who is already mentioned in the title, and then defines the author with a short name that is unnecessary and distracting. The second, third and fourth paragraphs include a lot of confusing history. You have no idea why you are reading that history . . .

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Hon. Erik P. Kimball

United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division

Hon. Erik P. Kimball, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division. Erik P. Kimball serves as Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in the Southern District of Florida. He was appointed in 2008 and reappointed in 2022. Judge Kimball received his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1990 and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1987. Judge Kimball began his legal practice at Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) in the firm’s Boston office. He twice left legal practice to work in the mutual fund industry as an investment professional. At the time of his judicial appointment in 2008, Judge Kimball was a shareholder at Akerman in the firm’s Orlando office. In legal practice, he specialized in representation of institutional investors and indenture trustees in connection with defaults of publicly traded debt securities.

From the Editor – Curing Default

October 27, 2019

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Debtor could cure default beyond 60 months. Agreeing with In re Klaas, 858 F.3d 820 (3d Cir. 2017), bankruptcy court had discretion to permit debtors to cure plan default, allowing a reasonable grace period beyond the 60 months of confirmed plan. Dismissal of the case for plan default was not required under §...

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Are 401(k) Contributions Disposable Income or Not?

Cathy Moran

May 21, 2023

For a system that is supposed to rehabilitate personal finances and set debtors back on their feet, Chapter 13 nationwide is schizophrenic about on- going retirement savings, divided about whether post petition contributions to retirement accounts preclude confirmation of a Chapter 13 plan. Too many courts, in my opinion, come down barring voluntary provisions for old age for the 5...

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Topp – Upending Till??

Jody Bledsoe

August 27, 2023

The Eighth Circuit recently released its Topp opinion. At issue was the appropriate starting point for determining the discount rate to be used when paying secured claims under a chapter 12 plan. The debtor, who had gained confirmation of his plan before the bankruptcy court, proposed paying claims to Farm Credit Services over 20 years at a rate based on the...

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Who Files the Tax Returns Under SBRA

June 7, 2020

By Steven L. Walker, Esq. (San Jose, CA) Subchapter V of the newly amended Bankruptcy Code is silent on the question as to whether the debtor-in-possession, or the court appointed trustee, must file the entity’s income tax returns on Form 1065, Form 1120, or Form 1120S. Although the IRS also has not issued any formal guidance, answers can be found...

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A Salute to the Consumer Litigation Five Star General

Keith D. Slocum

April 2, 2023

Consumer law attorney, mentor and educator, Oliver Max Gardner III recently announced that he is retiring. His passion, diligent research and unmatched expertise has served as a north star in consumer law for so many of us. From building a community of like-minded enthusiasts through the renowned Bankruptcy Boot Camp and cultivating an army of consumer litigators to fiercely defending...

From 5 Divisions to 4 Grandchildren, 3+ pets, 2 Hobbies and 1 Private Practice: The “Retirement” of Robert Wilson

Katherine L. Davis

March 20, 2022

“The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off!” [Abe Lemons] There is no better way to describe Robert Wilson in his career as an attorney, as a trustee, in his life thus far, and surely in his retirement! He has filled and will continue to fill every second of every day with meaning and purpose and...

Ask Ms. Ps & Qs

December 13, 2020

By Professor Nancy Rapoport Dear Readers: The ConsiderChapter13.org staff has, once again, raised an important ethics issue: how far does the attorney-client privilege go? In Taylor Lohmeyer Law Firm v. United States,1 the Fifth Circuit had to wrestle with that issue after the law firm (Taylor Lohmeyer) claimed a blanket attorney-client privilege for all documents that were subject to the...

Negotiating Plan Confirmation with Secured Creditors – Issues Involving Balloon Payments and Other Mortgage Loans Subject to Modification Under § 1322(c) – Part 2 of 3

November 15, 2020

By David Cox,1 Cox Law Group, PLLC (Lynchburg, VA) Click here for Part 1 II. Dealing With Balloon, Short Term and Related Mortgage Secured Claims Under §§ 1322(c)(2) And 1325(a)(5). § 1322(c)(2) provides that: “Notwithstanding subsection (b)(2) and applicable nonbankruptcy law . . . It looks like you are not signed in or registered! This content is only available to...

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Chapter 13 Discharge Expanded by COVID Relief Legislation

January 3, 2021

By Cathy Moran, Esq., Moran Law Group (Redwood City, CA) Chapter 13 debtors got a huge “gift” among the COVID relief provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, signed December 27, 2020 by the president. Debtors may get a full -compliance discharge of dischargeable debts if they have a residential mortgage and have not made all the payments required...

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Supreme Court on Statute of Limitations Under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

December 15, 2019

By William Houston Brown, Editor/Adviser Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education Construing the statute of limitations for actions against debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCA), the Supreme Court held on December 10, 2019, that “absent the application of an equitable doctrine, the statute of limitations in § 1692k(d) begins to run on the date on which the...

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