How to Manage Incompetent, Unprepared, and Unreasonable Creditor Bankruptcy Counsel

Recently, the Emeritus Trustees (“ETC”) commented on “How to Manage Incompetent, Unprepared, and Negligent Bankruptcy Counsel”. We now turn to ETC to share their collective wisdom when addressing the issues raised by incompetent, unprepared and unreasonable creditor counsel.

CREDITOR ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION ISSUES

Several ETC Trustees list the following as problematical during their tenure.

Attorney claims lack of authority from creditor client to agree or consent to any action.

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The NACTT Emeritus Trustees

Former Chapter 13 Standing Trustees

The NACTT Emeritus Trustee Committee is made up of former Chapter 13 Standing Trustees from all over the country: Michael Joseph, Isabel Balboa, Carl Bekofske, Herb Beskin, Chuck DeHart, Pete Fessenden, Mike Fitzgerald, Barb Foley, Nancy Grigsby, Mary Grossman, Jan Hamilton, James Henley, Howard Hu, Jan Johnson, Jeff Kellner, Tom King, John Logan, Judge Brian Lynch (retired), Mike Meyer, Bill Miller, Denise Pappalardo, Frank Pees, George Stevenson, and Robert Wilson.

Critical Case Comment – Prime vs. Riskless Treasury Rate

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

May 28, 2023

In determining the appropriate “present value” factor to be added to the payment of a secured claim in a Chapter 12, the Court should look at the “riskless” treasury rate rather than the “prime rate” before enhancing it with a risk factor. (Ebinger) Farm Credit Services of America v. Topp, 2022 WL 2981590 (S.D. Iowa, July 19, 2022) Case Summary...

Members

Meet A Newish Trustee

July 28, 2019

Tiffany M. Cornejo was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the District of New Mexico on December 1, 2017. She took the reins from retiring Kelley Skehen. Ms. Cornejo received her Bachelor of Science in Journalism (B.S.J.) degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 2002 and remained there to obtain her Juris Doctor in 2005. She...

How Guarantors Can Escape Tax on Soured Debt

May 19, 2019

By Cathy Moran, Esq. (Redwood City, CA) and William J. Purdy, III, Simmons & Purdy (Soquel, CA) Ever guarantee the debt of another? Ever meet anyone who has? Chances are if you’re in business and the business is a C-corporation, an S-corporation, an LLC, or a partnership, when that business borrows money, the lender will require one or more persons...

Members

From the Editor – Classification

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

Meet a New Trustee

The Academy

October 22, 2023

Angela M. Scolforo was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Western District of Virginia on April Fool’s Day. She replaced Herbert L. Beskin who served as the Trustee for 20 years, retiring in March of this year. Angela received a B.A. in English from College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Massachusetts, in1987. She did not immediately go...

NACTT 2024 Annual Roundtable

November 10, 2024

NACTT 2024 Annual Roundtable In July as part of the NACTT Annual Seminar, The Honorable Keith London, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee (retired), lead a discussion by experts in the field on AI and access to justice. This panel is an all-star cast and the video is free to all!!

Character Counts

Merideth Akers

November 6, 2022

“Does wearing these horizontal stripes make me look fat?” My wife, Becky, tells me that clothes with horizontal stripes make one look broad or fat. However, wearing clothes with vertical stripes create the illusion of making one look tall or slim. Smart fashion designers design clothing that creates the illusion that people are something they are not. I must confess...

Fourth Circuit: Brittner v. Beach Anesthesia

Edward C. Boltz

June 25, 2023

Summary: Brittner filed an adversary proceeding against Beach Anesthesia alleging violations of the automatic stay, but the bankruptcy court (affirmed by the district court) held that she had either failed to establish actual damages or to mitigate damages. The Court of Appeals held that that Brittner needed to satisfy a five-part test to establish a violation of the automatic stay: (1) that a bankruptcy...

Overruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law – A Book Review

M. Jonathan Hayes

October 6, 2024

“What, he [Gorsuch] explains, jumped out at me is that not only are there too many laws and administrative rules, but there are too many laws and rules created by agencies -- by individuals not chosen by we the people, and often in the far-away land we call Washington.”

Practice Pointers for Arguing Motions

December 6, 2020

By William Sawyer, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Alabama (Montgomery) (Used with permission. Court News and Views, Volume 18, October 2020) Lawyers who practice regularly in bankruptcy court invariably make many appearances at motion dockets. This article provides practice pointers to lawyers who do not practice often in this Court to familiarize them with our procedures...