Case Summaries
Bankruptcy Law
[07/22]
In Re: Repine
Judgment against attorney for attempting to collect fees from debtor in violation of a stay imposed by a bankruptcy court is affirmed in part and vacated in part where: 1) attorney willfully violated the stay in attempting to collect her fees; 2) attorney's refusal to consent to an agreed order to allow debtor to be released from civil incarceration caused debtor actual harm; 3) damages awarded to debtor for lost wages were appropriate; 4) debtor failed to set forth specific information regarding emotional damages; and 5) awarding attorney's fees to debtor was proper.
[07/22]
Bondi v. Capital & Fin. Asset Mgmt. S.A.
Denial of motion by debtor in foreign bankruptcy proceedings to enjoin actions brought against it in the United States is affirmed where the district court acted within its sound discretion in interpreting 11 U.S.C. section 304(c)'s instruction to assure an economical and expeditious administration of a foreign estate.
[07/21]
In re Reilly
Where a Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor indicates the intent to exempt her entire interest in a given property by claiming an exemption of its full value and the trustee does not object in a timely manner, the debtor is entitled to the property in its entirety, even if it is later discovered that the property has a higher value than the exempted amount.
[07/17]
Phar-Mor, Inc. v. McKesson Corp.
In the bankruptcy context, a vendor's administrative-expense priority on its reclamation claim is not effectively extinguished when the goods subject to reclamation are sold and the proceeds used to satisfy a secured creditor's superior claim.
[07/15]
In re: US Med., Inc.
In a bankruptcy proceeding, a ruling finding that defendant-creditor was not a "non-statutory insider" of debtor for purposes of 11 U.S.C. section 547(b)(4)(B) is affirmed where: 1) the bankruptcy court did not make any findings that the transactions between creditor and debtor were not at arm's length, or that there was undue influence or control by creditor; and 2) thus it erred in holding creditor to be a non-statutory insider of debtor. A creditor may only be a non-statutory insider of a debtor when the creditor's transaction of business with the debtor is not at arm's length; a bankruptcy court, however, may find a statutory insider without this requirement.
[07/15]
In re Tri-Valley Distrib., Inc.
In a suit alleging state law claims for fraudulent transfer and negligent lending, the parties' motions to dismiss each other's appeals for lack of jurisdiction are granted where: 1) the bankruptcy appellate panel's (BAP) order denying in part and granting in part defendant's motion to dismiss was not final and appealable; 2) a denial of defendant's motion to dismiss was not a final collateral order entitled to review; and 3) the BAP acted within its authority and there was no jurisdiction to review the merits of a section 1334(c)(1) abstention issue.
[07/14]
Kane v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co.
In a personal injury suit, summary judgment for defendants finding plaintiffs were judicially estopped based on their failure to include the personal injury action in their Chapter 7 bankruptcy schedules, as well as a denial of the trustee's motion to be substituted in that action as moot, are reversed and the case remanded where: 1) the personal injury claim became an asset of the bankruptcy estate upon filing of the Chapter 7 petition; 2) the trustee was the real party in interest and never abandoned his interest; 3) plaintiffs only stand to benefit in the event there is a surplus after all the debts of the estate are paid; and 4) a prior circuit court case did not control the outcome of this case, and the district court abused its discretion in concluding as a matter of law that it did.
[07/11]
Jennings v. Maxfield
In a bankruptcy case, a ruling under 11 U.S.C. section 727(a)(2)(A) denying debtor's discharge is affirmed where: 1) the record contained ample evidence of debtor's actual intent to defraud his creditors by making a premature payment on a contract for improvements to part of his Florida homestead; and 2) the bankruptcy court correctly denied debtor a discharge because he intended the transfer to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors.
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