judicial estoppel

Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit's Approach to Judicial Estoppel

06/24/26

 The Fifth Circuit has long applied judicial estoppel aggressively when a debtor fails to list a cause of action. It once held (in a panel opinion overruled by the en banc court) that a trustee was bound by a debtor's failure to disclose assets. Reed v. City of Arlington, 620 F.3d 477 (5th Cir. 2010), rev'd en banc 650 F.3d 571 (5th Cir. 2011).

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Fifth Circuit Report: Oct.-Dec. 2015

02/24/16
The Fifth Circuit decided cases dealing with appellate procedure, exemptions, judicial estoppel, jurisdiction, sanctions, standing and surcharging collateral during the fourth quarter of 2015.  A common theme among the cases is parties being disappointed in a variety of contexts, including having an appeal dismissed on procedural grounds, having a lawsuit dismissed based on incomplete filings in a bankruptcy case, losing exem
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Let's Be Careful Out There: The Danger of Omitting Assets

02/05/16
Filing bankruptcy is serious business.    The mere act of filing a petition creates an automatic stay effective against all entities.    Liens can be modified, taxes can be paid out and debts can be discharged.   The price of admission for getting all these benefits is full disclosure.   Unfortunately some debtors either don't understand these obligations or think they can selectively disclose only the assets they want to list.
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Chapter 13 Debtor’s Lawsuit Tossed Out for Failure to List It in Bankruptcy Documents

01/31/16

The doctrine of judicial estoppel reared its ugly head again, preventing a chapter 13 debtor from suing his former employer for racial discrimination.  The U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, ruled that a chapter 13 debtor should have amended his bankruptcy documents to list the lawsuit, even though the debtor suffered the alleged discrimination three years into a five year long bankruptcy reorganization case.  Jones v. Bob Evans Farms, No 15-2068 (8th Cir. Jan. 26, 2016).

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Fifth Circuit Report: August-September 2015

10/23/15

The summer months have been slow at the Fifth Circuit.   August and September's opinions include an update on a prior opinion about abstention related to a chapter 15, judicial estoppel, mootness of an appeal of a sale order, a motion to compromise, removal of a trustee, recognition of a foreign judgment and issues relating to a homestead.
 
Bankruptcy; Abstention; Remand

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Chapter 13 Post-Confirmation Property

02/12/14

In the case of In re Foreman, 378 B.R. 717 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Ga. 2007) a wrongful death claim arose post-petition. The Court held this claim not to be property of estate as it arose post-confirmation and that a debtor has no ongoing duty to disclose assets acquired post-confirmation that are not property of the estate.

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