Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts

Bankruptcy Efforts, Costs, Ethics: Ninth Circuit Reiterates That Costs Associated With Attorney Disciplinary Proceedings Are Nondischargeable In A Chapter 7 Case

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Costs, Cases: Ethics

$61,122.27 Was The Tab.             In Kassas v. State Bar of California, No. 21-55900 (9th Cir. Aug. 1, 2022) (published), the Ninth Circuit reiterated that, in line with In re Findley, 593 F.3d 1048 (9th Cir. 2010), the costs associated with a Chapter 7 debtor attorney’s disciplinary proceedings were nondischargeable under § 523(a)(7).

Bankruptcy Efforts, Sanctions: Ex-Partners In State Court Lawsuit Against Debtor With A Discharge Injunction Properly Not Sanctioned For Contempt Fees When They Had An Objective Belief The Debtor Had Returned To The Partnership State Court Dispute

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Sanctions

Ninth Circuit Came To The Same Result, Even Under An Objective Standard Although SCOTUS Sent The Case Back Based On Denying Contempt Fees Under A Less Stringent Good Faith Belief Standard.             On April 28, 2020, we posted on In re Taggart, a Ninth Circuit decision where two ex-partners in state court litigation against a

Bankruptcy Efforts: The Ninth Circuit Denies 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A) Recovery Of Attorney Fees To Debtors Who Successfully Appealed Denials Of Their Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Plans

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts

A Bankruptcy Court Does Not Fall Within The Definition Of “United States” Under The Equal Access to Justice Act, And An Uncontested Bankruptcy Case Does Not Constitute A Civil Action Brought By Or Against The United States.             Four separate debtors, in four separate actions, successfully appealed to the 9th Circuit after their unopposed

Bankruptcy Efforts: Reasonable Costs Of Disciplinary Proceedings Imposed On California Lawyer Were Nondischargeable; However, Discovery Sanctions Payable To A Party Were Dischargeable

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts

End Result Was $18,714 Was Nondischargeable, But $5,738 Was Dischargeable.             In In re Albert-Sheridan (Albert-Sheridan v. California State Bar), No. 19-60023 (9th Cir. June 10, 2020) (published), a disciplined California lawyer was ordered by the State Bar to pay $18,714 in costs for the disciplinary proceeding and to pay a client’s opponent $5,738 in

Bankruptcy Efforts, In The News . . . . Four Outside Bankruptcy Law Firms Seeking Approval Of $84 Million In Fees Since PG&E’s January 2019 Bankruptcy Filings

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, In The News

Filings Also Show Hourly Rates Being Claimed.             As reported by NALTA in an April 2, 2019 post, four outside bankruptcy firms have requested approval of around $84 million in fees for work on Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s bankruptcy case, which was filed in January of this year. Based on its summary of public

Bankruptcy Efforts, Substantiation Of Reasonableness Of Fees: Debtor Is Entitled To Attorney’s Fees And Costs For Challenging A Willful Automatic Stay Order On Appeal

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Substantiation of Reasonableness of Fees

Debtor Also Properly Allocated Fees To Work On Appeal, Such That A Procedural Basis For Denying Fees And Costs Was Infirm.             In In re Schwartz-Tallard, 803 F.3d 1095, 1101 (9th Cir. 2015) (en banc) [discussed in our April 17, 2014 post], the Ninth Circuit earlier held that 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) authorizes the court

Bankruptcy: Client’s Statement About A Single Asset To Pay Off Attorneys’ Unpaid Receivable Can Be A Statement Respecting The Client/Later Chapter 7 Debtor’s Financial Condition Which Is Dischargeable In A Bankruptcy Case According To SCOTUS

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts

SCOTUS Put Particular Focus On The Word “Respecting.”             In Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling, No. 16-1215 (U.S. Supreme Ct. June 4, 2018), SCOTUS faced a situation where a client told his law firm that he could cover future legal expenses, after falling behind, based on an expected tax refund, with the law

Bankruptcy/Sanctions:  Contempt Sanctions Against Creditor For Knowingly Violating Discharge Injunction Could Not Stand Based On Creditor’s Subjective Good Faith Belief, Even If Unreasonable

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Sanctions

Ninth Circuit Clarified Some Reasoning In Zilog Decision.             In In re Taggart, Case No. 16-35402 (9th Cir. Apr. 23, 2018) (published), the Ninth Circuit clarified some prior reasoning in In re Zilog, 450 F.3d 996, 1009 n.14 (9th Cir. 2006) to reinforce that contempt sanctions cannot be assessed against a creditor for knowingly violating

Bankruptcy:  NALFA Announces Billing Rates For Top Bankruptcy Attorneys During 2015-2017 In Major Legal Markets

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts

Rates Reflect Specialty Nature Of Practice, We Would Conjecture.             We can report that the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (NALFA) has conducted a survey of partner hourly rates in bankruptcy cases, the results of which were reported in a recent post on its News Blog.               NALFA examined dozens of court filings

Bankruptcy/Reasonableness Of Fees:  Ninth Circuit Affirms Arbitrator’s Award Of Fee Recovery To Chapter 11 Debtor’s Attorneys Under Reasonable Value Cap Of 11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(4)

Cases: Bankruptcy Efforts, Cases: Reasonableness of Fees

Appellate Court Also Reconciled Importance of Full Faith And Credit Act With Respect To Preclusive Effect Of Arbitrator’s Decision.             The Ninth Circuit in In re CWS Enterprises, Inc., No. 14-17045 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2017) (published) had to reconcile two provisions:  11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(4), a provision limiting pre-petition attorney’s fees provided to a

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