Sanctions in South Carolina

In a recent case out of South Carolina, rather than a debtor seeking sanctions against a creditor, it was the creditor’s counsel who sought sanctions against counsel for a Chapter 13 debtor in an adversary proceeding.

Ruling on a Motion for Sanctions in James Defoe v. Winyah Surgical Specialists, P.A. doing business as Winyah Surgical Specialists (In re Defoe), 632 B.R. 44 (Bank. D.S.C. 2021), Judge Waites held that two attorneys for the Debtor violated the automatic stay by failing to adequately investigate allegations prior to filing a complaint to . . .

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Ashley Baxter Curry

Staff Attorney for Joseph A. Bledsoe, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina (New Bern, Fayetteville, Greenville & Wilmington Divisions)

Ashley Baxter Curry is a native of New Bern, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Economics and Political Science in 2003. She then worked for a statewide political campaign, thereafter serving as a Senate Sergeant-at-Arms in the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2009, she received her J.D. from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University, and began her legal career in bankruptcy with Stubbs & Perdue, P.A. In October, 2014, she joined Joseph A. Bledsoe, III (“Jody”), a Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the Eastern District of North Carolina, as his Staff Attorney. She has spoken at several seminars for the Eastern Bankruptcy Institute, held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and currently serves on the Consumer Committee for the Bankruptcy Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She and her husband, Gary, reside in New Bern with their almost-6-year-old daughter, Evie.

Here’s What People Should Know About Taking Early Withdrawals from Retirement Plans

April 21, 2019

Taxpayers may need to take money out of their individual retirement account or retirement plan early. However, this can trigger an additional tax on top of other income tax they may owe. Here are a few key things for taxpayers to know: Early Withdrawals. An early withdrawal normally is taking cash out of a retirement plan before the taxpayer is...

Critical Case Comment – $67k Windfall to Debtors. Fraudulent??

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

April 24, 2022

In re Frank, 638 B.R. 463 (Bankr. D. Colo. 2022) A Chapter 13 trustee’s request to dismiss a Chapter 13 case upon discovery of an undisclosed asset held by the debtor cannot be granted after the debtor completes payments under the plan. (Brown) Case Summary John and Jessica Frank filed a Chapter 13 petition on April 8, 2018. Prior to...

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Critical Case Comment – Service Counts

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

October 2, 2022

Debtor’s filing application to extend or impose the automatic stay must comply with the service requirements of Rule 7004 as to all creditors or the stay cannot be imposed or extended. (Johnson) In re Hardy, 2022 WL 1196963 (C.D. Cal. April 21, 2022) Case Summary Kimberly Hardy had a long history in consumer bankruptcy. She had filed eight cases, including...

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Rules, Means-Test Amounts and Miscellaneous Fees: Changes Wrap Up 2020

November 15, 2020

By Lawrence R. Ahern, III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Amendments Effective December 1, 2020 The Judicial Conference proposed, and Congress has not changed, the amendments to the following Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure: Rules 2002, 2004, 8012, 8013, 8015 and 8021. Absent Congressional action, which is not expected, they will be effective at the...

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From the Editor – Discharge Injunction

May 31, 2020

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) Application of Taggart to lien avoidance. When the Chapter 13 confirmed plan bifurcated the secured creditor’s claim and the secured portion had been paid in full with interest, the completion of payments voided any lien, and the creditor violated the discharge injunction by commencing foreclosure. The Panel found the plan’s language, although “inartful,”...

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Taggart v. Lorenzen: Supreme Court Stakes Out Middle Ground on Contempt Standard for Discharge Injunction Violations, Leaves Clues About Automatic Stay Violations

June 16, 2019

By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) Introduction – The Taggart Ruling Last year, the Ninth Circuit in In re Taggart1 ruled that an act in violation of the discharge injunction did not empower a court to find a creditor in contempt, if the creditor believed in good faith that the discharge injunction did not apply—even if...

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Critical Case Comment – Present Value and Attorney’s Fees

October 3, 2021

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee (Nashville, TN) Administrative fees and claims existing when Chapter 13 plan was confirmed would reduce the amounts received by unsecured creditors in a Chapter 7 under the “best interests of creditors test;” unsecured creditors, expected to receive payments over three years, must be paid the “present value” of that stream of...

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Demystifying Bankruptcy Appeals

M. Jonathan Hayes

September 11, 2022

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...

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Critical Case Comment

December 27, 2020

By Henry E. Hildebrand, III, Chapter 13 Trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville) Section 506(d) does not allow the voiding of a lien when the underlying claim, filed by the debtor, has been disallowed; when notice is provided to a corporation it must be addressed to the individual who holds the office of an officer, manager, or general...

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In re Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc., 60 F.4th 73 (4th Cir. 2023), pet. for cert. granted, Truck Ins. Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc., 2023 WL 6780372, (U.S., October 13, 2023).

The Honorable William Houston Brown

October 29, 2023

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a plan proposal to create an asbestos trust through Chapter 11 bankruptcy was “insurance neutral,” and the debtor’s insurer was not a party in interest under Code § 1109(b), which contains a noncomprehensive list of parties in interest to a Chapter 11 case. Whether the insurer was a party in interest determined whether...