What New Bankruptcy Lawyers Need To Know: Beyond The Code

When Insurance Can Be The Death Of You

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Remember survey courses from college? Kinda like flying low over new territory without ever landing and getting on the ground? That's what I propose to do with the topic of insurance. Insurance, as we see it in bankruptcy. It isn't frequently a hot topic, but when it is, the numbers are large and the possibility for egg on your face is equally large. Policies owned by the debtor Insurance, a … [Continue reading...]

The More We Get Together

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Not a bad place for a weekend, eh? The NACBA convention was great. The two buildings on the left housed the convention. But I'm back in the real world, at home, in the realm of real people with real problems. Kudos to Tara Twomey who had a large hand in selecting the content of the weekend. She seemed to be everywhere, talking about NCBRC or the amicus project, or just taking the pulse of the … [Continue reading...]

Why Realization Dawns Too Late

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

This time, I have a question for you. How do we get laymen to see a situation as one involving legal rights rather than just a "life event"? That question was asked of the audience at a training on new legal rights created by the California Homeowner's Bill of Rights. That bill includes protections for tenants in properties foreclosed. The presenters admitted that the biggest challenge … [Continue reading...]

Got These Dates?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Friday The Chapter13 trustees ' Academy is sponsoring a free Means Test webinar Friday, April 19, 2:00 Eastern/1:00 Central. (Somehow they forgot to hold the hands of those of us in the Pacific time zone. My sources say that would be 11 am. PDT.) Projected Disposable Income (a/k/a Expected Unrecognizable Outcome): United States Bankruptcy Judge Fredrick E. Clement and Chapter 13 Trustee … [Continue reading...]

Projecting Tax Expense In A Life In Flux

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

When your client's tax situation is changing, projecting taxes for the means test becomes more challenging. We talked earlier about correcting projected taxes for means test purposes when the situation is stable and the debtor is either under or over-withheld. When there are more moving parts, for tax purposes, you've got different adjustments to make. Loss of deductions The most frequent … [Continue reading...]

Business Bankruptcy and The Bingo Effect

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Before filing, Business bankruptcy

The lives of business bankruptcy clients are peopled with a less than obvious cast of creditors. You need to flush them out and herd them in line before the case is filed. Near miss I had a close call, or rather my client had a close call, this week when some new information just slipped out. Thankfully, it was prepetition. The client, a very bright entrepreneur, thought that … [Continue reading...]

Tax Withholding Not Etched in Stone

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Taxes are one of the means test expense items that I have labeled as a gamechanger. Those gamechangers are entries on B-22 where a thorough bankruptcy lawyer has an opportunity to significantly alter the disposable monthly income. Facility here starts with the concept that the "right" tax figure may not be what's been withheld from the debtor's paycheck. Expenses are forward … [Continue reading...]

On The Trail Of The Reopened Bankruptcy Case

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

We're here at the trail head. Our goal is to reopen a bankruptcy case. I can't tell you comprehensively where this trail leads, but as bankruptcy lawyers, we often set off down the path. As we find in the cases, the trip may not be necessary. A starting point I reached into my box of snippets for Mastery this morning and fetched up this note: Here are the comments from … [Continue reading...]

What’s It Worth To You?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Chapter 13

If all the children in Lake Woebegon are above average, all the small businesses our clients run are quite valuable. If the Chapter 13 trustee is asking the question, anyway. I rail when the Chapter 13 trustee's business questionnaire asks "how much would you sell your business for." Phrased that way, the question implicates all kinds of facts that aren't in play in Chapter 13. First, … [Continue reading...]

Hat Tip For Timeless Little Tips

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

It's the little things that count. My life in the law is so much richer and more productive as a result of help, encouragement and brainstorming I've shared with lots of marvelous mentors and friends. But two people stand out, not just for their generousity with their knowledge, but for the common here's-how-you-get-it-done tips. My hat's off to David Leibowitz and April Charney for … [Continue reading...]

The Savvy Move: San Diego For NACBA Convention

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Sunshine, camaraderie, and CLE. Three days in San Diego for the NACBA 2013 Convention. No need to chew on it. Sign up. The early bird discount expires 3/15/13. There's no place else where you can get such a marvelous mix of the latest developments in consumer bankruptcy law and the practical how-to's from lawyers who've done this for decades. Alongside the old reliable programs on … [Continue reading...]

Old Lesson From Innovation Event

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The most important thing I learned at a half day spent at ReInventLaw Silicon Valley had little to do with the conference's theme of law, technology, and innovation. In fact, it was very old school idea that stuck with me: communicate with your client. Give the client greater visibility into the value you are providing. Henry Jones was addressing the problems of big law firms, … [Continue reading...]

Dealing With Joint Debt And Business Struggles

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Early in this series on business bankruptcy issues, we focused on figuring out just who is liable for each debt. Many people check over here with several doubts regarding business. Is it the shareholder, sitting across the desk from you, or is it the corporation that person runs? The life of a bankruptcy lawyer is simple when the answer is either one or the other. Not so simple when the answer … [Continue reading...]

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