News Topic: ATexasBankruptcyLawyersBlog

This quarter's cases involve numerous cases on home loans, several cases related to doctors and hospitals and interesting cases on judicial estoppel and Rooker-Feldman .   Ocwen Loan Servicing v. Berry, 852 F.3d 469 (5th Cir. 3/29/17)  ... Read full article

In yet another blow to the finality of exemptions, the Fifth Circuit has ruled that a chapter 7 debtor who claimed an IRA as exempt but later withdrew the proceeds must pay the funds to the trustee.   Engelhart v. Hawk (Matter of Hawk) , No. 16-20641 (5th ... Read full article

Texas Bankruptcy Judge Tony Davis had some sound advice for persons setting off on a business venture.   In fact, his words should be mandatory reading in business schools and forums where would be business persons frequent.    He wrote: When two ... Read full article

It has been a while since I have done a Fifth Circuit report.   With the new year, I am going to try to get back to chronicling each quarter's decisions from my home circuit. Breach of contract; attorney's fees; abuse of process; malicious ... Read full article

In a blow to creative lawyering, the Supreme Court ruled today that a structured dismissal which allocates value contrary to the priority scheme of the Bankruptcy Code may not be approved.   Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corp ., No. 15-649 (U.S. 3/22/17).   ... Read full article

Overruling a bankruptcy court decision, a District Judge in the Western District of Texas has ruled that proceeds from sale of a homestead can be recovered if not timely reinvested in a Chapter 7 case.   The Court ruled that the Frost decision applied ... Read full article

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ("BAPCPA") capped the amount of a homestead exemption which could be claimed by a debtor that acquired a homestead within 1,215 days prior to bankruptcy.    Currently, the ... Read full article

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This continues a series on the bankruptcy opinions of Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia.   One point which is clear is that Judge Gorsuch strongly believes that rules should be ... Read full article

Newly minted Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch sat on the Tenth Circuit for ten years.  During that time, he signed on to eleven opinions regarding bankruptcy, which means that he wrote about bankruptcy around once a year.    None of his opinions are ... Read full article

The case for The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis , No. 15-30125 (Bankr. D. Minn.) has been an extremely contentious one.   The Debtor and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors have different ideas on how to compensate sexual abuse claims ... Read full article

Judge H. Christopher Mott of the Western District of Texas is known to fill his opinions with references to movies and pop songs.   His latest opinion in Xtreme Power Plan Trust v. Schindler, et al (In re Xtreme Power, Inc.) , No. 16-1004 (Bankr. W.D. ... Read full article

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This was the first of two educational programs sponsored by the Commercial Law League of America.   I had the privilege of appearing on a panel featuring moderator Beverly Weiss Manne, Prof.  Pam Foohey, Sam Maizel and Nancy Peterman.   Prof. Foohey and I ... Read full article

The Commercial Law League of America held its annual luncheon at NCBJ featuring the Lawrence King Award and a keynote speech by Andy Dillon. ... Read full article

This panel examined energy and healthcare reorganizations.   The unifying theme of this panel was that industries that are highly regulated, highly leveraged and lack control over their prices are prime candidates for bankruptcy.   According to the ... Read full article

The first plenary session of NCBJ was Broken Bench Radio, a fast-paced discussion of hot topics in the form of a radio call-in show.   It covered insights from the Caesar's Entertainment case, upcoming Supreme Court decisions, recharacterization, ... Read full article