What New Bankruptcy Lawyers Need To Know: Beyond The Code

Maybe You Already Knew…

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

I learned something new last week and it took the ***!#### means test to teach it to me. The case involved a couple where the non filing wife ran an interior decorating business. The income and expense information we were presented with showed "lots" of money flowing through the business. Subtract the given business expenses and our figures said these folks should be paying several thousands of … [Continue reading...]

Stop Wrestling With Lien Stripping

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

If there's a bright spot in the midst of this recession, it's the thrill bankruptcy lawyers get in stripping mortgage liens from underwater property. Action taken at the depths of home values will benefit clients long into the future if the client can hang on to the home til things recover. Yet I hear lawyers wrestling with lien stripping worries revolving around mismatches … [Continue reading...]

It’s Not Smart To Overpay

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Some mistakes the Chapter 13 trustee will call you on; others go unremarked. So let's discuss some simplistic thinking that has your Chapter 13 client paying too much into the plan. I've reviewed any number of newbie plans that use the non exempt equity in the debtor's possessions as the liquidation premium. Subtract the exemptions from the value of the assets and … [Continue reading...]

A New Wrinkle With Client Age

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

This seems to have been my season for issues driven by testamentary, or pseudo testamentary transfers. Estate planning is a big issue that requires independent consultation like Stone Arch Law Office, PLLC - Estate Planning Law Firm does. I've encountered the post petition trust beneficiary; the client with an unanticipated prepetition interest in a probate estate; and the residual beneficiary of … [Continue reading...]

When Bankruptcy Attorneys Put Their Clients In Default

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The Chapter 13 Trustee almost snarled from the counsel table at last week's hearings. Counsel's "fix", she told the court, put the debtor instantly in default. Huh? The amended plan was supposed to correct the previous defect in the filed plan. What's the problem? Counsel certainly was befuddled. There were several such cases, and whatever dollars and cents problem … [Continue reading...]

A Call To Action To All Bankruptcy Lawyers

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Push back to call to improve bankruptcy bar

My call to the inept bankruptcy practitioners to get better or get out spawned some surprising push back. I spoke bluntly about what I saw as harm to the public from less than competent or committed bankruptcy attorneys. Most reaction was supportive: A trustee wanted to use the piece for a presentation he was making; another lawyer asked to reprint it. Many simply added … [Continue reading...]

How Can I Help?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

After I unloaded on the incompetence I saw in the courtroom last week, it's only fair to ask: what are you struggling with? Is there something I can do to help? I'm here to share what I know, with an emphasis on fitting together the pieces of what you can learn from books or traditional CLE courses into a scheme for actual practice of bankruptcy law. I raise the issues I either see around … [Continue reading...]

Get Better Or Get Out

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Become better bankruptcy attorney or get out

I spent a painful day in court watching two contested Chapter 13 confirmation calendars. It wasn't just my fanny that hurt by the end of the day, it was my head. Actually, I was sick to my stomach. The number of Chapter 13 cases dismissed because the lawyer had apparently done nothing, done it late, or done it wrong was nauseating. The parade of lame excuses for inaction went on and on. … [Continue reading...]

Battling Uncle Sam In The Bankruptcy Court

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

It's rare when you can get Uncle Sam to funnel clients in your door of your bankruptcy practice. And at no cost to you. But that's the situation if you know how to handle tax issues in bankruptcy. The IRS threatens, or even worse, levies, and the client is frantic for help. You, armed as a bankruptcy lawyer, can fight off the feds, and usually lessen the panic. … [Continue reading...]

The Lift Stay Motion And The Accidental Litigator

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

It's ironic that lots of us chose bankruptcy as a specialty because we didn't want to litigate. Bankruptcy looked easy, the recession creates clients and the practice is centered around official forms. Then one day you realize that bankruptcy is full of motion practice. And nothing is more important than dealing with relief from stay motions. … [Continue reading...]

The Chapter 13 Arsenal Is Incomplete Without This Unsung Hero

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Chapter 13

Chapter 13 hardship discharge: when the plan is derailed

I beat the Chapter 13 trustee on what's necessary to get a hardship discharge the other day. The contested issue was essentially whether the general rotten state of the economy was a circumstance beyond the debtor's control, justifying a hardship discharge. Over the years of a Chapter 13 plan, lots of life events can threaten the plan. Our clients usually aren't in the best of shape, … [Continue reading...]

Why You Need To Know The Three Musketeers Of Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

In literature, the three musketeers answered to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. In the world of bankruptcy, they live on yet with different names. That doesn't make them any less effective or, in the wrong hands, less lethal. The Code accords better treatment to creditors holding liens. Therefore, it is often our sworn duty as fighters for our clients to tackle those liens, whittle them down, … [Continue reading...]

Need A Bankruptcy Form or Local Rule For A Mortgage Case?

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The National Consumer Law Center once again takes on a gargantuan task at the Bankruptcy Mortgage Project website. The site gathers documents, rules, procedures and forms touching mortgage issues in bankruptcy cases, organized by state. Within the site, it addresses Loss Mitigation Chapter 13 Plan Cure Requirements Stay Relief Lien Stripping Chapter 13 Plans To top … [Continue reading...]

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