Automatic Stay

Seventh Circuit Solidifies a Circuit Split on the Automatic Stay

Disagreeing with the Tenth and D.C. Circuits and siding with four other circuits, the Seventh Circuit rules that passively holding estate property violates the automatic stay.

San Francisco Judge Slaps Down FERC on Rejection of Power Purchase Agreements

Judge Montali accuses FERC of a power grab to take the bankruptcy court’s right to rule on the rejection of executory contracts.

Automatic Stay Violations and Sanctions Litigation

Supreme Court Rejects Strict Liability for Discharge Violations

‘No objectively reasonable basis’ is the high court standard to find civil contempt for violating the discharge injunction.

Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on What Is or Is Not a ‘Final, Appealable’ Order

For now, the high court ducks an important automatic stay question for chapter 13 debtors.

Automatic Contracts and the Automatic Stay: A Primer on “Smart Contracts” in Bankruptcy

July 2019

Circuits Split on Bankruptcy Jurisdiction for Social Security, Medicare Suits

Fifth Circuit rejects the ‘recodification canon’ to divest bankruptcy courts of jurisdiction over Social Security suits.

Freezing a Chapter 7 Debtor’s Bank Account Doesn’t Violate the Automatic Stay

SDNY opinion seems to mean that a bank may freeze a debtor’s entire bank account at filing, without violating the automatic stay.

Supreme Court Hears Argument on Good Faith as Defense to Discharge Violation

In Taggart v. Lorenzen, the justices sounded largely noncommittal, except for the Chief Justice, who seemed in the debtor’s camp favoring a stricter standard for contempt of the discharge injunction.

Bankrupt with a Pension Plan? Here’s What to Expect

July 2019