Beyond Professional Ethics

By Merideth Akers, CPA, PHR, Comptroller forBradford W. Caraway (Birmingham, AL)

I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Professional in Human Resources (PHR). I suspect that many who read this article are Licensed Attorneys. Others may hold a certification from other professions. These entities have their own rules of professional ethics and conduct that govern what we are to do, and what we are not to do. But a true code of ethics goes beyond any rules of a professional association. A true code of ethics is not just what we do, but who we are . . .

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Annulment of the Automatic Stay: A Concept Whose Time Has Come – And Gone

June 21, 2020

By Academy Staff The Automatic Stay is one of the most fundamental aspects of the Bankruptcy Code, providing a Chapter 7 Trustee “breathing room” to investigate Debtor’s financial affairs; and providing Debtors in Chapter 13 time to formulate and confirm a Chapter 13 Plan without facing the imminent loss of assets. Equally important, most Courts have concluded that actions in...

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Escrow 102 – Part 2 of 4

October 3, 2021

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

Members

A Lasting Impact: My Participation in the Tom Vaughn Memorial Internship Program

Queneshia Fleming

October 29, 2023

I am delighted to be in the inaugural class of the Tom Vaughn Memorial Internship Program for Sylvia Ford Brown, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Western District of Tennessee in Memphis. I truly feel that this internship has been invaluable to the furtherance of my career and the expansion of my knowledge of bankruptcy. I. A Little About Me...

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M. Jonathan Hayes

March 31, 2024

Launching a new feature - Supreme Court Corner - Jon Hayes will periodically share a look at a historical bankruptcy case. As the title indicates, Sturges v. Crowninshield looks at state bankruptcy law in the absence of federal law.

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Consumer Foreclosure Procedures

October 23, 2020

U.S. Trustee Program to Implement Virtual Section 341 Meetings of Creditors Nationwide

The Academy

September 10, 2023

These virtual 341 meetings via Zoom will be implemented on a rolling basis through early 2024. YEP, this means you, y’all, all y’all, you guys, and yoos guys. Doesn’t matter if you have been doing 341’s via telephone for 100 years . . . it’s ZOOM as soon as implemented in your district. For Debtor Atty’s, this may require having clients...

From the Editor

September 20, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Chapter 13 debtor lacked “person aggrieved” standing to appeal objection to trustee’s final report. The bankruptcy court had overruled the debtor’s objection to the trustee’s final report, and debtor’s appeal was dismissed, with the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel finding that debtor lacked “person aggrieved” standing to appeal. Debtor’s objection had not included amount of...

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Measuring Success in Chapter 13: Successful Dismissals and Conversions

Honorable Brian D. Lynch

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A. Introduction When should we regard dismissal or conversion of a chapter 13 as an unsuccessful bankruptcy? The arguments are familiar.Chapter 13 is the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to stop foreclosures, repossessions, and garnishments by creditors.Desperate debtors can file a chapter 13 case without schedules, statements, or a plan and buy themselves a stay for a short period. And...

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Critical Case Comment – Objection to Entire Housing Allowance Overruled

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

March 3, 2024

This is a potential BIGGIE . . . Where a Chapter 13 debtor incurs one relatively small expense covered by the IRS Local Standards, the debtor is entitled to deduct from CMI the entire allowance to calculate Projected Disposable Income.

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Keep Calm and Carry On – Observations Regarding CBRA

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 9, 2022

First, breathe deep and try to relax. The Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative House Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, with minimal notice, set an oversight hearing for September 29, 2022. The subcommittee is charged to deal with matters relating to bankruptcy. The subject of the hearing was to be the “Oversight of the Bankruptcy Code, Part 2: Ensuring a Fresh...