Justia Bankruptcy Opinion Summaries

Chapter 7 debtor appealed the district court's reversal of the bankruptcy court's order denying relief from the automatic stay to the Disciplinary Board. Debtor was disbarred from the practice of law and the Disciplinary Board later filed a complaint in state court seeking to enjoin debtor from the unlawful practice of law and to appoint a conservator to take possession of debtor's client files and take other steps to protect his clients. At issue in this appeal was whether a debt's dischargeability in bankruptcy proceedings - standing alone - constituted "cause" sufficient for a bankruptcy court to provide relief from the automatic stay provisions of 11 U.S.C. 362(a). The court affirmed in part and reversed in part, concluding that the debt was nondischargeable but, in this instance, the district court erroneously relied solely on the debt's dischargeability status in its ruling on the "cause" issue. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded in part for further proceedings. View "Disciplinary Bd. of the Supreme Court of PA v. Feingold" on Justia Law

The Millers retained Ettinger in 2008 to represent them in a landlord/tenant dispute. Over 23 months, Ettinger billed $43,000. The dispute settled for $9,500. The Millers paid Ettinger $20,000, but even before the landlord-tenant matter settled, Ettinger sought relief in Pennsylvania state court to accelerate the speed at which he was paid. He petitioned to withdraw as a counsel, first based on alleged failure to pay and then due to professed “lack of cooperation.” Both petitions were rejected, though the Millers were ordered to make “good faith” payments. Despite their continued payments, Ettinger sued the Millers, who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection the following month. Ettinger filed an adversary proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court to prevent discharge of the Millers’ remaining debt to him, alleging fraud. The Bankruptcy Court rejected the complaint and imposed a $20,000 sanction against Ettinger jointly with his attorney. The district court vacated on the ground that the sanctions violated the “safe harbor” requirements of Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9011, which requires 21 days between serving and filing a sanctions motion, during which period the challenged conduct may be remedied, but refused to remand for further consideration. The Third Circuit remanded with instructions to permit the Bankruptcy Court to consider alternative avenues to impose sanctions. View "In re: Miller" on Justia Law

After the Underhills received their discharge under a voluntary Chapter 7 petition in May 2010, Golf Chic, an LLC in which Beth Underhill was the sole member, filed a claim for tortious interference against several entities in October 2010. The lawsuit was settled and $80,000 was awarded to the LLC, but the settlement check was made payable to Beth Underhill and her attorney, rather than to the LLC. Huntington Bank successfully moved to reopen the case so that the settlement proceeds could be administered as an asset of the bankruptcy estate. The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed. The settlement proceeds received after the discharge were sufficiently rooted in the debtors’ pre-bankruptcy past to be property of the estate, 11 U.S.C. 541(a)(1) and the claims were not abandoned by the trustee when the bankruptcy case was closed. The claim was known to Beth Underhill and affected the value of her membership interest. Placing a value of zero on the membership interest with that knowledge constituted failure to disclose the asset and warrants reopening and a determination by the bankruptcy court of the value of the interest in the LLC. View "In re: Underhill" on Justia Law

The Government appealed the bankruptcy court's order denying its motion to approve its superpriority administrative expense claim under section 507(b) of Title 11 of the Bankruptcy Code; its motion for evidentiary hearing; and its motion to alter or amend the bankruptcy court's denial of its motion for a section 507(b) administrative expense claim. The bankruptcy appellate panel concluded that the bankruptcy court abused its discretion when it denied the Government the opportunity to conduct discovery and produce evidence. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for the bankruptcy court to determine the amount, if any, of the Government's section 507(b) claim. View "United States v. Lange, et al." on Justia Law

U.S. Bank appealed the bankruptcy court's order authorizing AMR and American (collectively, "Debtors") to obtain postpetition financing; authorizing Debtors to repay certain prepetition notes held by U.S. Bank and secured by aircraft; and denying U.S. Bank's request to lift an automatic stay. The court concluded that: (1) under the language of the Indentures, American's voluntary petition for bankruptcy triggered a default and automatically accelerated the debt, the satisfaction of which required no make-whole payment; (2) ipso facto clauses in a nonexecutory contract were not unenforceable under 11 U.S.C. 365(e) or any other Bankruptcy Court provision identified by U.S. Bank; Debtors complied with its 11 U.S.C. 1110(a) elections to perform its obligations under the Indentures and cure any nonexempt defaults by making regularly schedule principal and interest payments; it was not required to cure its Section 4.01(g) default; and (4) the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in denying U.S. Bank's motion to lift the automatic stay. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "In re: AMR Corp." on Justia Law

This case concerned the California Franchise Tax Board's wish to assess $13 million in unpaid income taxes on the individual partners of a general partnership that owned the property at issue, the Wilshire Courtyard. At issue on appeal was whether the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction to reopen the bankruptcy proceeding where the partnership was reorganized into a limited liability company. The court concluded that the bankruptcy court had neither "arising under" nor "arising in" subject matter jurisdiction over the present dispute; the bankruptcy court did, however, have "related to" jurisdiction over the present dispute; and bankruptcy court jurisdiction did not violate the Tax Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. 1341. Accordingly, the court reversed the bankruptcy appellate panel's judgment and remanded for further proceedings. View "In re: Wilshire Courtyard" on Justia Law

After the mutual funds, known as the Lancelot or Colossus group, folded in 2008, the trustee in bankruptcy filed independent suits or adversary actions seeking to recover from solvent third parties, including the Funds’ auditor, law firm, and some of the Funds’ investors, which the Trustee believes received preferential transfers or fraudulent conveyances. The Funds had invested in notes issued by Thousand Lakes, which was actually a Ponzi scheme, paying old investors with newly raised money. In these proceedings the trustee contends that investors who redeemed shares before the bankruptcy received preferential transfers, 11 U.S.C. 547, or fraudulent conveyances, 11 U.S.C. 548(a)(1)(B) and raised a claim under the Illinois fraudulent-conveyance statute, using the avoiding power of 11 U.S.C. 544. The bankruptcy court dismissed the claims against the law firm that prepared circulars for the Firms. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. No Illinois court has held that failure to report a corporate manager’s acts to the board of directors exposes a law firm to malpractice liability. The complaint does not plausibly allege that alerting the directors would have made a difference. View "Peterson v. Winston & Strawn, LLP" on Justia Law

After the mutual funds, known as the Lancelot or Colossus group, folded in 2008, the trustee in bankruptcy filed independent suits or adversary actions seeking to recover from solvent third parties, including the Funds’ auditor, law firm, and some of the Funds’ investors, which the Trustee believes received preferential transfers or fraudulent conveyances. The Funds had invested in notes issued by Thousand Lakes, which was actually a Ponzi scheme, paying old investors with newly raised money. In these proceedings the trustee contends that investors who redeemed shares before the bankruptcy received preferential transfers, 11 U.S.C. 547, or fraudulent conveyances, 11 U.S.C. 548(a)(1)(B) and raised a claim under the Illinois fraudulent-conveyance statute, using the avoiding power of 11 U.S.C. 544. The bankruptcy court rejected the claims, citing the statutory exception: “the trustee may not avoid a settlement payment or transfer made to a financial participant in connection with a securities contract, except under section 548(a)(1)(A) of this title.” The Seventh Circuit affirmed. A transfer from the Funds to each redeeming investor occurred “in connection with” a securities contract. View "Peterson v. Somers Dublin, Ltd." on Justia Law

Aleris supplied aluminum to Behr under a requirements contract until a labor dispute forced Aleris to close its Quebec factory in 2008. After learning of the closure, Behr took delivery of aluminum worth $2.6 million from Aleris without paying for it and scrambled to obtain aluminum from other suppliers, which Behr says increased its costs by $1.5 million. Behr filed suit in Michigan state court. That suit was stayed in 2009 when Aleris’s parent company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Aleris filed for bankruptcy in Canada. Aleris sued Behr in federal court seeking recovery of $2.6 million for the aluminum delivery. Behr asserted numerous defenses and counterclaims including a setoff for its increased costs after the factory closure. The district court abstained from adjudication of Behr’s counterclaim, characterizing it as “part and parcel of the stayed state-court proceedings,” then granted summary judgment to Aleris in the amount of $1.1 million and closed the case. Behr satisfied the judgment. The state court declined to lift the stay. The Sixth Circuit reversed, stating that the decision gave Behr full value for its untested counterclaim and has the impact of depriving the Canadian estate of monies to which it might be entitled. View "RSM Richter, Inc. v. Behr America, Inc." on Justia Law

For more than 30 years, Grace has defended itself against asbestos-related lawsuits filed by building owners seeking redress for costs involved in removing Grace products. AMH owns a hospital complex that used Grace products in its construction and filed a class action lawsuit in South Carolina state court. Before resolution of that litigation, Grace filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection. After about 10 years, most property damage claims against Grace had been settled, contingent on approval of an 11 U.S.C. 524(g) trust and an injunction channeling property damage claims against Grace to that trust for payment. AMH did not settle. The Bankruptcy Court confirmed Grace’s reorganization, including a trust and channeling injunction, over AMH’s objections. The district court and Third Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the reorganization plan did not meet the requirements of section 524(g), which provides a mechanism for handling overwhelming asbestos-related liabilities in Chapter 11 proceedings; that the plan failed to provide equal treatment as required by 11 U.S.C. 1123(a)(4), (C) ; that Grace did not show that the Plan was proposed in good faith under 11 U.S.C. 1129(a) and did not show that the Plan is feasible. View "In Re: W.R. Grace & Co." on Justia Law