December 11, 2023

Finality of a Contempt Order Drawn into Question in the Eleventh Circuit

Some authority from the Supreme Court suggests that a contempt order without imposition of attorneys’ fees would not be final in a bankruptcy case.

11th Circuit

November 21, 2023

Actual Damages Not Required to Recover Attorneys’ Fees for a Stay Violation

Judge Goldblatt slaps creditors with $665,000 in damages for violating the automatic stay.

3rd Circuit, Delaware

October 27, 2023

Filing Bankruptcy After Renewing a Title Loan Again Found Not to Be Bad Faith

Title lenders continue losing battles to take cars away from debtors, but the lenders have yet to plead and prove their best cases.

11th Circuit, Alabama, Alabama Middle District

October 13, 2023

Debtor’s Subchapter S Status Is Estate Property that an Owner Can’t Terminate

Bankruptcy Judge Russin declines to follow the Third Circuit and adopts the conclusion of bankruptcy courts holding that Sub S status is estate property.

11th Circuit, Florida, Florida Southern District

October 11, 2023

A ‘Litigation Tactic’ Isn’t Fatal in Chapter 15

A bankruptcy judge in New York was deferential to foreign liquidators using chapter 15 to extinguish a lawsuit in the U.S. that they saw as a nuisance.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Southern District

September 01, 2023

If Bankruptcy Occurs on the Eve of Trial, Is There ‘Cause’ to Modify the Stay?

Delaware’s Judge Craig Goldblatt makes a ‘common-sense judgment’ in deciding whether to allow a prepetition lawsuit to proceed in state court.

3rd Circuit, Delaware

August 24, 2023

State Court Is the ‘More Appropriate Forum’ to Divide Marital Property

The bankruptcy court can divide marital property, but just because it can doesn’t mean it should, Judge Thuma says.

10th Circuit, New Mexico

August 23, 2023

Fourth Circuit: State Law Claims for Discharge Violations Are Not Preempted

The Fourth Circuit declined to follow the First and Sixth Circuits on preemption of automatic stay violations by expanding the ban to redress for discharge violations.

4th Circuit

August 16, 2023

A Suit to Impose a Prepetition Policy Didn’t Violate the Automatic Stay, District Judge Says

Seeking attorneys’ fees from the debtor did not by itself make a postpetition lawsuit subject to the automatic stay.

5th Circuit, Louisiana, Louisiana Eastern District

August 15, 2023

Another Article III Judge Won’t Let Bankruptcy Stop Suits Against Nondebtors

The same day the Supreme Court decided to hear Purdue, a district judge on Long Island, N.Y., sent dozens of long-stayed sexual abuse cases back to state court where the debtor is not a named defendant.

2nd Circuit, New York, New York Eastern District