sanctions

A Cautionary Tale for Zoom Depositions

12/11/21

 By now, we have grown used to Zoom hearings, Zoom mediations and Zoom depositions. However, a case I heard discussed at the ABI Winter Leadership Conference points out that as ubiquitous as these technologically assisted interactions are, they can pose both challenges and perils to the unprepared. 

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Exaggerated Allegations Lead to Sanctions in Stay Violation Case

11/07/21

Many consumer debtor attorneys have chosen to enhance their revenue by filing suit on relatively minor violations of the automatic stay or discharge. There is nothing inherently wrong with these suits since they vindicate the rights that debtors receive when they file bankruptcy. However, some practitioners have resorted to filing form complaints which go on for hundreds of paragraphs with boilerplate allegations about the callousness of the particular creditor.

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Sanctions in the Michigan Election Case and in Bankruptcy Court (Pt. 4)

09/21/21

This is the final installment of our investigation into the Michigan elections case and the three forms of sanctions awarded as well as how the same principles apply in Bankruptcy Court. This installment discusses sanctions under the court's inherent authority.

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Sanctions in the Michigan Elections Case and in Bankruptcy Court (Pt. 3)

09/20/21

This is part 3 of our discussion of sanctions in the Michigan elections case and in Bankruptcy Court. This installment examines 28 U.S.C. §1927.

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Sanctions in the Michigan Election Case and in Bankruptcy Court (Pt. 2)

09/16/21

Yesterday I introduced King v. Whitmer (E.D. Mich. 8/25/21), the case in which Judge Linda Parker wrote a 110-page opinion awarding sanctions under three separate legal grounds. Today we look at sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11, the longest section of the opinion, as well as a case where sanctions were assessed under Fed.R.Bankr.P. 9011, its bankruptcy counterpart.

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Sanctions? In Delaware Bankruptcy Court? Yes

04/25/16

– But they weren’t as oppressive as my subject line may imply.

In a 13 page decision, released April 22, 2016, Judge Gross of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court granted a motion to dismiss an adversary proceeding and sanctioned the Plaintiff – disallowing any further litigation against the defendants in the Bankruptcy Court.  Judge Gross’ opinion is available here (the “Opinion”).

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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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