When a confirmed Chapter 11 plan includes provisions protecting third parties from certain claims, the bankruptcy court has statutory, core jurisdiction over a complaint against the protected...
A bankruptcy court cannot award an involuntary debtor relief under 11 U.S.C. § 303(i) against a State merely because it was a petitioning creditor. First, a State does not waive its Eleventh...
Judge(s):
Rawlinson, Melloy (8th Circuit, sitting by designation), and Thomas
The Fourth Circuit held that local Chapter 13 form plans cannot "abridge, modify, or enlarge" a debtor's substantive rights under the Bankruptcy Code. In particular, they cannot require property...
Judge(s):
Chief Judge Albert Diaz; Circuit Judge James Harvie Wilkinson III; and Senior Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz
The Fourth Circuit held that § 327(a) does not permit former trustees to file post-hoc applications to employ professionals for work done while they were trustees if the case has already been...
A panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel holding that the debtor was allowed to exempt "100% of FMV" of a property as a homestead...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held a district court abused its discretion in imposing a "docket management" stay on a securities class action lawsuit related to a pending...
The Fifth Circuit held that the bankruptcy court abused its discretion and erred in not abstaining from adjudicating the liquidating trustee’s claims. That is, Burford v. Sun Oil Co. compelled...
Joining the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and diverging from some bankruptcy courts, including the one below, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Circuit) held that, in...
Judge(s):
Stuart K. Duncan; Stephen A. Higginson; and Patrick Higginbotham
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held a bankruptcy court erred in sanctioning a law firm and its client by shifting $239,655 in legal fees. The fee-shifting amounted to a criminal...
The Fifth Circuit found that the questions on appeal to the district court (from a bankruptcy court’s order denying a complaint filed under both section 523 and section 727) contained questions...
