Bankruptcy Mastery

Most contests have rules.  Charny wrote on medieval jousting; Hoyle on cards;  Queensberry on boxing. Rule 9014 provides the rules of bankruptcy disputes. 9014 recognizes contested matters:  disputes in bankruptcy cases that  don't require an adversary proceeding but do require the court to decide a disputed issue. You can hardly be an effective player if you don't … [Continue reading...]

Letters in the client's mailbox superficially offer great news:  the junior mortgage will be forgiven! That good news just adds on a new facet to our job description:  spotting possible  tax consequences and alternatives for our clients by reason of  tax on cancellation of debt. As  the National Mortgage Settlement  gains momentum, we can expect to encounter this more often. The topic is … [Continue reading...]

Sometimes it seems that the substance of the law is easier than procedure.  Adequate service is both essential and ephemeral. We've been struggling for some time about who to serve and how to do it on the issue of stripping underwater mortgages. Locally, the spotlight seems to have shifted to service when you move to extend the stay in the case of a debtor with a prior dismissal. So it … [Continue reading...]

Be an advocate-your client has enough opponents. It's no accident that the word for lawyer in Scotland, Belgium and India is advocate. If we do our jobs for bankruptcy clients well, we are advocates for their interests at every stage of the game. Yet I hear lawyers assuming that there is a known and pat answer to every question under BAPCPA  and that the answer is the one the trustee … [Continue reading...]

You probably spend hours in service of your client without compensation.  At least, that's how the majority of consumer bankruptcy lawyers operate.   Is this the only way to practice? It seems as if the consumer debtor bankruptcy bar has been brought up to believe that we should expect no payment from our clients once the case is filed.  Whether we price our services on an hourly basis or on … [Continue reading...]

Contrary evidence can trump the pre printed form. I saw it in a case I uncovered in updating the Complete Guide to Means Testing for the NACBA Fall Workshop. Swartzentruber ( 2009 WL 28730003 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio 2009)) dealt with means testing and the classification of debts as consumer or non consumer. The debtors there bought a second residence, this one in Florida, and checked the box … [Continue reading...]

Cases keep getting referred to my office when the clients are over the debt limits for Chapter 13. (Debt limits are less of a barrier since the debt limit moved to $2.75 M in 2022). The assumption seems to be that if the debt is that large, a Chapter 11 is required.  It ain't necessarily so. (Care to hum a few bars?). Goals come first Client goals are the first issue when choosing … [Continue reading...]