I commend to you 11 U.S.C. 522(c). For therein lies a magical tool even for the client who has non dischargeable debts. It boils down to this: exemptions, like diamonds, are forever. Once an exemption is allowed in a case that isn’t dismissed, that property is forever beyond the reach of creditors whose claim arose […]
What No One Told Me About Adversary Pleading
When I learn something new about bankruptcy after 30 years of practice, I don’t know whether to be ecstatic or scared witless. But learn something I did when I read the ABI Journal’s article on FRBP 7008(b). In short, FRBP 7008(b) requires that claims for an award of attorneys fees in an adversary complaint must […]
Time Can Be On Your Side
Lucky us. Not. We have a new, multipage model Chapter 13 plan in several Bay Area divisions. It exalts mathematic precision over the intentions of the plan. Have the wrong number for the fixed monthly payments to particular creditors, and the money is distributed, willy-nilly, to unsecured creditors. (There are other idiocies that I will surely […]
I Assume, Redux
If there are 50 ways to leave your lover, there must be 150 ways that your bankruptcy client can get it wrong. And at the end of the day, you risk taking flak for the screw up. Fair or not. So I’ll share this week’s dust up in my office and maybe we all can […]
Chapter 7 Risks Everything For Operating Business
Shut the business down, the Chapter 7 trustee told debtor’s counsel. Or get an order allowing continuing operation. My addition to the litany: bring a motion to abandon. Why order shutdown? The debtor was a partner with his parents in a restaurant that they wanted to continue to run. Yet somehow, no one had considered […]
Neat Bankruptcy Skill: Severing Spouses
Every time I contemplate severing a joint bankruptcy case, the traditional Anglican wedding service echoes: Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder. Then I excuse myself, since it was either the attorney or the debtors that elected a joint case, not the Almighty. And I proceed to make two bankruptcy cases […]
Jazz Up Your Bankruptcy Practice
Meet me in New Orleans. That’s where the bankruptcy action will be at the end of October. It’s NACBA’s 2013 Fall Workshop But early-bird sign up is over at the end of this week, September 6th. Three tracks With longer sessions for more in-depth treatment, the workshop is organized into three tracks Fundamentals Evidence, Mortgages, […]
