Bankruptcy: A Lesson in Conflicts and Sex with Clients

Bankruptcy: A Lesson in Conflicts and Sex with Clients – Part IV©

By Mark D. Yochum, Professor of Law, Duquesne University School of Law

Counsel for the debtors themselves in Chapters 7 or 13 are not subject to the Code’s requirement of disinterestedness. Such counsel are still, of course, subject to state and federal ethical rules and their continued employment supervised by the bankruptcy court. For example, in In re Souzasilveira, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3022 (Bank. Ct. C.D. Mass. 2012), the bankruptcy court disqualified the debtor’s counsel based upon ethical conflicts rules. In addition to the general shoddy practice, counsel purporting to represent the debtor also represented . . .

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Just the Facts, Ma’am – Consolidated Appropriations Act, December 27, 2020

January 10, 2021

By The Honorable William Houston Brown (Retired) This legislation includes several bankruptcy-related provisions, in addition to government funding and other COVID relief. Consumer bankruptcy issues are addressed in Title X of the Act, section 1001, which amends Bankruptcy Code § 541(b)’s exclusions from property of the estate, adding subsection 11 for certain coronavirus relief, defined as “recovery rebates made under...

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Judge Gustafson and Daniel Tavera explore “Who Benefits” from work done in a Chapter 13 case, and they suggest that the title of this piece comes from an old-time radio show – “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar” – one of the most popular radio shows in its day. It was a five-part show called “The Cui Bono Matter.” To hear a...

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Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act

Henry E. Hildebrand, III

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A new day is coming to high debt borrowers seeking to file Chapter 13 but confounded by the debt limits imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 109(e). Although debt limits have been increasing since the effective date of the Code in 1979, consumer debts have been increasing at a far more rapid rate. Starting in 2009, when the housing crisis first...

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Sub V Update

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From the Editor – Claims

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From the Editor – Claims

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By Lawrence R. Ahern III, Brown & Ahern (Nashville, TN) PART III – DELAYED PERFECTION OF SECURITY INTERESTS Introduction Current circumstances (a pandemic and dire economic conditions) portend an onslaught of bankruptcy filings. In the consumer bankruptcy field, trustees and debtors' counsel often are uncomfortable with the rules in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). In this space,...

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By John P. Gustafson, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Northern District of Ohio, Western Division (Toledo, OH) Click here for Part 1 of 6 Click here for Part 3 of 6 Click here for Part 4 of 6 Click here for Part 5 of 6 Click here for Part 6 . . . It looks like you are not signed in...

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From the IRS – Using Strong Password Is a Strong Defense Against Identity Thieves

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