BankruptcyProf Blog

Circuit Court of Appeals Cases from Last Week

6th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 05, 2009
McMillan v. LTV Steel, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2009 WL ------- (6th Cir 2009)(bankruptcy court's denial of a claim seeking administrative expense priority status to former employee affirmed)

6th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 06, 2009
Hyundai Translead, Inc. v. Jackson Truck & Trailer Repair, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2009 WL ------- (6th Cir 2009)(derivative standing of a party seeking to recover funds that it alleges were fraudulently transferred from debtor to a third party is affirmed)

9th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 06, 2009
In re John M. Costas, --- F.3d ----, 2009 WL ------- (9th Cir 2009)(disclaimer of trust benefits under Arizona law is not a transfer of an interest of the debtor in property)

11th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 03, 2009
Midwest Holding #7, LLC v. Anderson, --- F.3d ----, 2009 WL ------- (11th Cir 2009)(lease termination agreement constituted a transfer "for or on account of an antecedent debt" and is avoidable as a preference)

Thanks to Findlaw.com. 

Bankruptcy Jurisprudence From the Supreme Court

My new book on the Supreme Court is now available on Amazon.  You can access the website here.  The book contains my briefs on 121 Supreme Court cases dealing with bankruptcy from Sturges v. Crowninshield in 1819 through the Piccadilly Cafeterias case last year.  It includes almost every case since 1984 - about 60 in all.  I have added comments on the various justices who wrote the opinions and other interesting tidbits about the cases and the times.  Let me know what you think.  JH   

January Filings Down Again

There were 89,037 bankruptcy petitions filed in January, 2009.  This compares to 95,403 in December and 91,355 in November of 2008.   I don't think there is much doubt that a lot of people are waiting to see what form the home mortgage modification legislation will take.  It looks like a person filing chapter 7 now will be able to convert their case to chapter 13 later if they can modify their mortgage.  The problem is if they get a discharge in the chapter 7, they cannot get another discharge in a chapter 13 for a while.  So unless there is some other important reason to file now, why not wait for a few weeks anyway.   

cdcbaa Review of 2008 Decisions

cdcbaa
Central District Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Association

Third Annual Review of 9th Circuit Published Decisions and Selected Other Cases on Bankruptcy for 2008

February 21, 2009

Speakers:
Hon. Meredith Jury
Bankruptcy Judge, Central District of California, Riverside Division
Member of the 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
M. Jonathan Hayes

Where:
Southwestern Law School
3050 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Registration: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
CDCBAA Membership Meeting: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Program: 11:00 pm - 1:00 pm

2 Hours of MCLE Credit Provided – Limited Space
Cost:  Free to CDCBAA Members
Non-Members:  $150 (which includes one year membership in CDCBAA and at least six more free MCLE Programs this year)

Lehman Bankruptcy Judge Arrested for Spousal Abuse

I don't know Judge James Peck in New York but its still really a shame to report this.  He was arrested last Saturday for spousal abuse.  Here's the story from the New York Post.  Here's the criminal complaint. 

Report from Credit Suisse re Proposed Amendments to Chapter 13

This report has some useful information.  Thanks to Marc Stern in Seattle.