By Alexander Schmidt1, Law Clerk, and The Honorable John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Toledo) You have never heard – or seen – the Monster Mash. What have you heard, is a song ABOUT the Monster Mash. Let that sink in for a minute. Inevitably, that leads to the obvious question: What facts...

By Craig Shopneck, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Northern District of Ohio Retired It was many months ago when Mike Joseph asked, if, as a retired trustee, would I be interested in writing an article for the NACTT Academy. This may seem like a rather straightforward task but before putting pen to paper I needed time to reflect not...

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Marijuana connection required case dismissal. The Chapter 13 debtors owned interests in an entity that was engaged in litigation to recover damages for breach of contract related to growing and selling marijuana, and this connection required dismissal of the case. Continuing administration of the case “would likely require the trustee or the court...

Dear Readers: Want to know why your 1L Civ Pro course is your best friend when it comes to “undue hardship” cases?  Because burdens of proof matter.  (They matter in other cases, too, but I’m in love with the case of Love v. U.S. Dept. of Education (In re Love), Case No. 19-20532-C-7, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern...

By Michael J. McCormick, Esq., McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC (Roswell, GA) Escrow 101 – Part 1 Escrow 101 – Part 2 Escrow 101 – Part 3 Escrow 102 – Part 1

When do the facts justify a long bar to refiling over the 180-day period in § 109(g)? Sometimes it is Justice Stewart’s infamous words from Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 187 (1964)–“I know it when I see it.” Even so, a Trustee must provide evidence and authority to the Court for a long prejudice period. In In re Parson 2021...

Jason Wilson-Aguilar was appointed as the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for Western District of Washington, Seattle Division, effective on October 2, 2018. He replaces retiring K. Michael (Mike) Fitzgerald who served as the Standing Trustee for nearly twenty years. During the ten years prior to his appointment as Trustee, Jason was the Senior Staff Attorney and Legal Department Manager in...

Jan M. Sensenich graduated from Windham College in Putney, Vermont in 1978 and Vermont Law School in 1983. He served as Core Faculty Member and Director of the Woodbury College Legal Clinic from 1983 to 1987and from 1990 to 1992. Jan was an Associate with Jerome I. Meyers, P.C. from 1987 to 1990 when he opened his own practice concentrating...