Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Bankruptcy Discharge Case
Posted on Jan 16, 2018 in Bankruptcy | Comments Off on Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Bankruptcy Discharge Case
The Supreme Court granted cert. on January 12, 2018, to review Appling v. Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP (In re Appling), 848 F.3d 953 (11th Cir. 2017), which we reported on below. The case, which involves the bankruptcy discharge exception for fraud, will be heard this term. Posted by Tom...
Bankruptcy Debtors Can Recover Attorneys’ Fees Spent in Enforcing Stay and Seeking Damages, Including for Appeals
Posted on Dec 11, 2017 in Bankruptcy | Comments Off on Bankruptcy Debtors Can Recover Attorneys’ Fees Spent in Enforcing Stay and Seeking Damages, Including for Appeals
Richard and Patricia Horne filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. After the bankruptcy was filed and the automatic stay imposed by Section 362(a)(1) went into effect, Mary Mantiply, an attorney, filed a state court action against the Hornes on behalf of Mantiply’s client. Mantiply repeatedly refused to dismiss the case, even after being informed of the...
Securities Law Judgment Excepted from Discharge
Posted on Feb 21, 2017 in Bankruptcy, Securities | Comments Off on Securities Law Judgment Excepted from Discharge
On the same day the court decided Appling (below), the Eleventh Circuit issued a second bankruptcy-discharge opinion, this time addressing one of the more obscure exceptions from discharge, § 523(a)(19)(A)’s exception for judgments for securities law violations. Lunsford v. Process Technologies Services, LLC (In re Lunsford), 2017 WL 603845 (11th Cir. Feb. 15, 2017). Judge Bill Pryor...
Court Broadly Construes Bankruptcy Discharge Exception for Fraud
Posted on Feb 17, 2017 in Bankruptcy | Comments Off on Court Broadly Construes Bankruptcy Discharge Exception for Fraud
One of the most litigated issues in bankruptcy court is whether a discharge of a particular claim should be granted to a debtor who has committed fraud relating to the claim, a statutory discharge exception found in section 523(a)(2)(A) and (B) of the Bankruptcy Code. The statute establishes a dichotomy between fraudulent statements regarding the debtor’s (or an “insider” of the...
Health Savings Accounts not exempt from bankruptcy estate in Georgia
Posted on Jan 27, 2017 in Bankruptcy | Comments Off on Health Savings Accounts not exempt from bankruptcy estate in Georgia
After the Georgia Supreme Court answered a certified question, the Eleventh Circuit held that health savings account (“HSA”) funds are not property exempt from the bankruptcy estate under Georgia law. In Mooney v. Webster, No. 15-11229 (11th Cir. Jan. 27, 2017), a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitioner claimed the assets in her HSA account as exempt from bankruptcy under O.C.G.A. §...
Direct Appeal from Bankruptcy Proceeding Transferred for Lack of Jurisdiction
Posted on Jan 12, 2017 in Bankruptcy | Comments Off on Direct Appeal from Bankruptcy Proceeding Transferred for Lack of Jurisdiction
Federal courts have struggled with the implications of Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), and Wellness International Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, 135 S. Ct. 1932 (2015)—in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution requires the parties’ consent before bankruptcy courts can finally adjudicate claims that neither “stem[] from the bankruptcy itself [n]or would necessarily be...
