July 30, 2021
Cap on Employee Benefit Claims Is Per Plan, Not Per Debtor, Seventh Circuit Says
The $13,650 cap on priority claims for each employee under an ‘employee benefit plan’ applies to each benefit plan, not to all of an employer’s benefit plans added together, the Seventh Circuit says.
7th CircuitJuly 29, 2021
Circuits Split on Allowing Debtors to Cure Chapter 13 Plan Defaults After Five Years
Tenth Circuit splits with the Third and Seventh Circuits on allowing a debtor to cure defaults after a five-year plan has ended.
10th CircuitJuly 28, 2021
Chapter 13 Debtors Keep Windfalls with No Connection to Assets on the Filing Date
Taking sides with the minority on a split, bankruptcy judges in Kansas allow chapter 13 debtors to retain windfalls acquired after filing.
10th Circuit, KansasJuly 27, 2021
Critical Vendor Status Is No Defense to a Preference Claim
Critical vendor status is a defense to a preference claim only when the defendant was specifically named in an order, stipulation or agreement requiring full payment of the creditor’s prepetition claim, Judge Dorsey says.
3rd Circuit, DelawareJuly 26, 2021
General Default Judgment Didn’t Satisfy Requirements of Issue Preclusion, Circuit Says
If the complaint was properly plead, a general default judgment might invoke issue preclusion to bar discharge of a debt.
11th CircuitJuly 23, 2021
Puerto Rico Case and the Efficacy of Prof. Westbrook’s Definition of ‘Executoriness’
The bankruptcy community needs a better definition of what’s an executory contract, and Prof. Jay Westbrook has it.
1st Circuit, Puerto RicoJuly 22, 2021
Circuits Split on Finality of Rule 2004 Discovery Orders in Chapter 15 Cases
Citing Ritzen as the reason, the Eleventh Circuit disagreed with the Second Circuit regarding the finality of Rule 2004 discovery orders in chapter 15 cases.
11th CircuitJuly 21, 2021
Circuit Split on U.S. Trustee Fees Likely Won’t Reach the Supreme Court Until Fall 2022
Judge Hoffman sets up Sixth Circuit to opine on the circuit split regarding the constitutionality of the 2018 increase in fees for the U.S. Trustee system.
6th Circuit, Ohio, Ohio Southern DistrictJuly 20, 2021
All Private Student Loans Are Not Excepted from Discharge, Second Circuit Holds
No circuit split: The Second Circuit agrees with the Fifth and Tenth Circuits that only a subset of private student loans is automatically nondischargeable.
2nd CircuitJuly 19, 2021
Tribal Law Defined the Nature of a Tribe Member’s Property Interest in Gaming Revenue
Federal law allows tribes to determine whether a tribe member’s interest in distributions of gaming revenue will be estate property in bankruptcy, Judge Ridgway says.
8th Circuit, Minnesota