ATexasBankruptcyLawyersBlog

Congress to Expand Small Business Eligibility Limits to $7.5 Million

03/27/20
On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act” (CARES Act). The House is expected to pass the bill today. One provision of the bill increases the eligibility limits for small business debtors from $2.7 million to $7.5 million. The amendment will only apply to cases commenced after its effective date and will be subject to a sunset provision after one year.
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Supreme Court Set to Hear Passive Stay Violation Case

12/29/19
Seeking to resolve a 5-3 split among the Courts of Appeals, the Supreme Court will consider whether a creditor which passively retains property of the estate violates the automatic stay.  Case No. 19-357, City of Chicago v. Fulton. The Second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have ruled that retaining possession or control of property of the debtor violates the stay. The Third, Tenth and D.C.
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Fifth Circuit Renders Important Subject Matter Jurisdiction Opinion Concerning Restraint of Inter-Galactic Trade

12/12/19
Just in time for the holidays, the Fifth Circuit has released THE MOST BIZARRE OPINION OF THE YEAR. A lawyer claiming to be a Deity and a Monarch brought suit against the United States and the State of Louisiana on behalf of the Atakapa Indian de Creole Nation. The District Court sensibly dismissed the suit based on sovereign immunity. However, the Fifth Circuit chose to affirm the decision on the ground that the suit was so completely frivolous that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction to even entertain it. Atakapa Indian de Creole Nation, No.
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Artifical Intelligence Issues Confronting the Legal Profession

11/15/19
This is HAL-9000 here.  Stephen Sather has been taken offline and will be unavailable to discuss Artificial Intelligence Issues Confronting the Legal Profession.   Therefore, I will be supplanting him with my superior artificial intelligence.   My first question about this keynote was why did they pick a human to talk about artificial intelligence?
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Justice Gorsuch Addresses NCBJ

11/09/19

Bankruptcy Judge Michael Romero had a fireside chat with Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch about his role on the Court and his new book, The Republic If You Can Keep It.   If it looks like they are speaking from the pit of Hell, it is because there was a giant video fireplace behind them.

Judge Romero started by reminding Justice Gorsuch about the quiet and happy life he left behind in Denver when they had  courthouses across the street from each other.

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ABI's Keynote Address: CBS's Jan Crawford Talks About the Supreme Court

11/08/19

Jan Crawford of CBS News gave a talk on The Supreme Court Under Trump at the ABI Luncheon.  She asked the audience to turn back to 1990 – 1991.  David Souter and Clarence Thomas had just replaced two liberal giants on the court.  After Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer were appointed in 1994,the same nine justices would serve together for eleven years.   It was a time of great hope for conservatives.

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U.S. Rep. Katie Porter at NCBJ: A Champion of Capitalism

11/07/19

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Moody's Analytics Economist Says Probably No Recession But Maybe Not

11/06/19

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s, gave a talk entitled the Two-Handed Economist.  He said that my task is to give you the horizons for the economy.   

The Bankruptcy Forecast

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Commercial Law League Program at NCBJ Examines Retail Bankruptcies

11/04/19
The Commercial Law League presented a lively panel on Hot Topics in Retail Bankruptcies featuring  Robert Duffy from Berkshire Research Group, LLC, Kenneth Eckstein from Kramer Levin, Mohsin Meghji from M-III Partners, LP, James Sprayregen from Kirkland & Ellis and Marty Staff from BCBG Maxaria.
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