Assessing the Ailing Business Post Pandemic

Long after the human patients recover from the coronavirus, small businesses will still be ailing. And long nights will be spent deciding whether to try to stay in business.

As bankruptcy lawyers, we’re going to see people in pain trying to assess what to do next.

Business owners may see the exit heading through the bankruptcy courts, but that may be neither necessary nor wise.

Here’s my list of considerations as I try to think broadly and flexibly . . .

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Pump the Brakes: Bad Faith Debtors Are Not Gaming the System

January 13, 2019

By Kathryne M. Shaw,1 Boleman Law Firm, P.C. (Virginia Beach, VA) Click here for Part 2 The bankruptcy system requires good faith on the part of a debtor in exchange for the promise of a fresh start, and responsible members of the bankruptcy bar constantly work to ensure that no one “games” this powerful system. So, how does a debtor...

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“How Long, O Lord?”

November 29, 2020

By Angela M. Scolforo, Staff Attorney to Herbert L. Beskin, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Western District of Virginia “How long?” is a common plea. When my children were young and we travelled they would ask, “how long before we get there?” In scripture we find David, Habakkuk and Zechariah (none of whom were Debtors’ attorneys) all crying out, “how...

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Critical Case Comment

September 20, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) A Non-Governmental Private Student Loan Obligation is not always excepted from discharge by § 523(a)(8). (Holmes) McDaniel v. Navient Solutions, LLC, 2020 WL 5104560 (August 31, 2020) Case Summary Bryon and Laura McDaniel filed a Chapter 13 petition in 2009. They acknowledged that, among...

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In the Trenches: Secrets to Settlement – Competency in the Courtroom Part 2 of 3

June 16, 2019

By Jan Hamilton, Chapter 13 Trustee (Topeka, KS) Click here for Part 1 of 3 8. Early Preparation for Trial As suggested, the best way to settle a case is to be willing to try that case, which means you must prepare from the get go. That preparation begins a long time before the eve of trial, namely, at the...

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Retirement of the Honorable Guy R. Humphrey

The Academy

February 18, 2024

Retirement of the Honorable Guy R. Humphrey

Critical Case Comment–Sex, Lies and the Barton Doctrine

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

March 27, 2022

The issuance of a subpoena to a Chapter 7 trustee by a third party was subject to the Barton Doctrine and could not be permitted without the parties seeking bankruptcy court consent. (Clarkson) In re Eagan Avenatti, LLP, 2022 WL 630332 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. March 3, 2022) Case Summary Eagan Avenatti, LLP, was the California law firm of the somewhat...

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How My Law Firm Learned to Stop Leaving Money on the Table Part 1 – Looking at Bankruptcy Cases Differently

Mark C. Leffler

April 17, 2022

Mark Leffler, of the Boleman Law Firm in Virginia and also the current President of the Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, begins a series of articles describing his firm’s development of a broader practice on behalf of consumer debtors. Look for subsequent parts of this series over the next few weeks. My fellow self-described consumer bankruptcy lawyers: you wield more...

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Duty to Disclose Substantial and Unanticipated Changes in Debtor’s Financial Condition

Angela M. Scolforo

December 11, 2022

In the case of In re Ilyev, 17-12987-KHK (Bankr. E.D. VA July 26, 2022), Judge Kenney granted the Chapter 13 Trustee’s motion to modify the plan to require the Debtor to repay some of the $29,250 of disposable income he retained by not making his mortgage payments during an 18-month Covid forbearance. The Debtor never disclosed to the Trustee, or...

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Critical Case Comment – Ignoring 3002.1 Will Cost You

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

February 5, 2023

Mortgagee’s failure to disclose payment changes resulting from escrow adjustments and interest rate modifications compels the Court to order mortgagee to credit all undisclosed increases and subject it to sanctions, including attorney’s fees. (Somers) In re Kinderknecht, 2023 WL 320984 (Bankr. D. Kan. January 19, 2023) Case Summary Kyle and Chasity Kinderknecht filed a Chapter 13 petition in December of...

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Recent Trends in the Interpretation of Midland v. Johnson and the Applicability of the FDCPA to Bankruptcy Cases – Part II: Thomas v. Midland Funding, LLC

February 7, 2021

By Mark C. Leffler, Boleman Law Firm, PC, Richmond, Hampton, and Va. Beach, Virginia In order to “eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors . . .”, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) bars debt collectors from using any “false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the collection of any debt . . .” 15...

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