Discharge/Dischargeability

Texaco’s 1988 Confirmation Didn’t Kill Environmental Suits Decades Later

New York’s Bankruptcy Judge David Jones reopened Texaco’s 1988 bankruptcy to ensure that state courts wouldn’t mistakenly decide that environmental claims were discharged

Student Loans

Judge Oldshue Splits with Two Circuits: No Nondischargeability for Sub V Corporations

The bankruptcy judge in Pensacola, Fla., is giving the Eleventh Circuit an opening to split with the Fourth and Fifth Circuits.

Nondischargeability in Sub V Only Applies When It’s a Nonconsensual, Cramdown Plan

A creditor must control a class before its debt can become nondischargeable in Subchapter V.

Judgment Liens Based on Nondischargeable Debts May Be Avoided as ‘Impairments’

A homestead can be protected from collection of a nondischargeable debt, limiting the judgment creditor to attaching nonexempt property.

The Insurer Exception to Discharge Injunction: More Theoretical than Real?

The self-insured retention can prevent a creditor from using the insurer exception to sue the insurance company with the debtor as a nominal defendant.

A Disguised Loan Agreement Didn’t Create a ‘Fair Ground of Doubt’ Under Taggart

The Fifth Circuit undertook a legal analysis of a complex loan agreement to decide there was no ‘fair ground of doubt’ under Taggart that the lender was violating the discharge injunction.

Benchnotes March 2025

March 2025

Applying § 523 to Corporate Sub V Debtors: A Conscious Policy Decision, or a Drafting Oversight?

April 2025

Debtor Not Compelled to Arbitrate Automatic Stay or Discharge Violations

A district court in Minnesota left the door open for sometimes compelling debtors to arbitrate claims arising in a bankruptcy case.