On Bankruptcy and Mediation
Chicago (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Poor Chicago. Unlike the result for Chicago’s traffic ticket income in Fulton v. Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to rescue Chicago in City of Chicago v. Mance (Case No. 22-268; Cert. denied, 11/21/2022).[Fn. 1] Chicago’s Traffic Ticket Income Here’s the deal: Chicago issues three million traffic... Continue Reading →
Old and outdated? (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Four decades and several years ago, Congress repeals the Federal Bankruptcy Act of 1898 and replaces it with the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, aka the “Bankruptcy Code.”[Fn. 1] A decade later, Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are still disparaging the new Bankruptcy Code... Continue Reading →
Not made whole (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson During a November 9, 2022, hearing on summary judgment motions in the Hertz bankruptcy[fn. 1], Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath issues the following oral ruling: The make-whole premium in this case is “calculated based on unmatured interest”; “If something is calculated by interest, I... Continue Reading →
Vanishing? By: Donald L Swanson The case is Wells v. McCallister, Case No. 21-1448 in the United States Supreme Court. The question presented is: whether a debtor's homestead exemption, existing on the date of bankruptcy filing, can vanish if the debtor sells the homestead during the bankruptcy and does not promptly reinvest the proceeds in another... Continue Reading →
A weathered bell (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson “Bellwether trials” are jury trials that serve as test cases.[FN. 1] Bellwether trials happen when many parties sue the same defendant over the same types of injuries from a defective product or wrongful action. The bellwether trial idea is to have jury trials in a... Continue Reading →
Fallout and follow-up? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson In its Siegel v. Fitzgerald opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that disparate quarterly fee amounts between U.S. Trustee and Bankruptcy Administrator districts are unconstitutional, under the uniformity requirement of the U.S. Constitution’s bankruptcy clause. The most recent fallout from that opinion is the following... Continue Reading →
Working together? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Illinois follows the common law of assignments for benefit of creditors (“ABC”): a non-judicial, trust-like process for liquidating a failed business. That ABC process can work, hand-in-hand, with the Bankruptcy Code. The case of In re Computer World Solutions, Inc., Case No. 07-21123, Northern Illinois Bankruptcy... Continue Reading →
Problematic? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson “[T]he bankruptcy court— . . . (2) shall excuse compliance . . . if . . . an assignee for the benefit of the debtor’s creditors . . . was appointed or took possession more than 120 days before the date of the filing of the petition,... Continue Reading →
Nonconformity (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson When parties contract for arbitration of their disputes: they are “forgoing the . . . appellate review of the courts in order to realize the benefits of private dispute resolution”; California’s state law in question “coerces parties to opt for a judicial forum” instead of the arbitration... Continue Reading →
On a quest (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson I’m on a curiosity-quest to find the first-ever U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the subject of bankruptcy. Excitement arises, for a moment, upon discovering Gibbs v. Gibbs, 1 U.S. 371 (1788). After all, Gibbs v. Gibbs: deals with priority of a judgment lien, a fraudulent... Continue Reading →
MEDIATBANKRY 