Demystifying Bankruptcy Appeals

Consumer bankruptcy attorneys in my experience tend to see appeals as a massively expensive undertaking fraught with unfamiliar rules and the threat of sanctions at every turn. That is not the reality. The purpose of this short article is to allay those fears. It’s a fun and satisfying process; dive in says I.

Final order

You can only appeal a “final” order. That is not easy to figure out in the bankruptcy arena. The Supreme Court recently considered whether an order denying stay relief was a final order. It said that a . . .

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MJHayes150

9th Circuit BAP Law Clerk (Los Angeles, CA)

Loyola University School of Law (J.D., 1977); Loyola University (B.A., 1971) Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution of the Pepperdine University School of Law, 30 hours, (1995). Certified Bankruptcy Specialist, California Bar Association, Board of Legal Specialization. Hayes has had an active practice for 32 years in the Central District of California, including chapter 11, 13 and 7.

Prof. Hayes has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of West Los Angeles (previously University of LaVerne School of Law) for the past 23 years where he has taught Bankruptcy, Business Organizations, Contracts, Advanced Bankruptcy Issues, Commercial Law, and Taxation. Before that he was on the faculty of Whittier School of Law for four years.

In addition, he sits on the Board of Editors of the California Bankruptcy Journal, the Bankruptcy Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Board of Directors of the Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Association (“cdcbaa”) and is Editor of the cdcbaa newsletter, the California State Bar Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission (which is charged with choosing persons who qualify for the Bankruptcy Specialty Certificate in California), The Bench and Bar Liaison Committee of the Central District of California.

Mr. Hayes is the author of numerous Law Review articles and three books entitled, “A Summary of Bankruptcy Law,” published in July, 2009, available at Amazon.com; “Bankruptcy Jurisprudence from the Supreme Court,” published in 2009, also available at Amazon.com; and “Melvyn ‘Deacon’ Jones: My 40 years with the Blues Legends,” privately published in 2004.

He maintains the website Central District Insider. He is married and has four children. He has lived in Northridge, California for 28 years.

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