On Bankruptcy and Mediation
By: Donald L. Swanson The U.S. Supreme Court has already dismissed one bankruptcy appeal this term as “improvidently granted.” This is an oddity. And it should have also dismissed U.S. Bank National Association v. Village at Lakeridge, Case No. 15-1509, for the same reason. Instead, the Court held oral arguments in the Lakeridge case on... Continue Reading →
By: Donald L. Swanson The fact scenario is this. An S corporation pays its own taxes each year. Then it files bankruptcy. So, the bankruptcy trustee sues the IRS for recovery of those tax payments as fraudulent transfers. It does so under two different sections of the Bankruptcy Code: (i) Under § 548, for payments within... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson I’m irritated [not that anyone actually cares]. Here’s why. Federal Arbitration Act I’ve been reading some bankruptcy cases on requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act. These cases talk about submitting a bankruptcy dispute to arbitration based on an arbitration provision in the disputing parties’ pre-petition contract. Never mind that the dispute is... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson "We must decide whether Puerto Rico is a “State” for purposes of this [bankruptcy] pre-emption provision. We hold that it is." --Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 15-233 (Decided June 13, 2016). The Bankruptcy Code definition of "State" is contained in Sec. 101(52) and... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson Have you ever wondered about the nature and history of Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States of America? After all, it’s located 1,600 miles beyond Miami and is separated from the U.S. mainland by the likes of Cuba, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Haiti and Dominican Republic. So . .... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson "Public rights" doctrine enters the bankruptcy scene thirty five years ago in the four-Justice plurality opinion of Northern Pipeline v. Marathon Pipe Line, 458 U.S. 50 (1982). Three Justices in that case write an vigorous dissent to such a use of public rights doctrine, while two other Justices concur with the... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson Have you ever wondered why Congress, when it adopted the Bankruptcy Code in 1978, limited the term of service for bankruptcy judges to fourteen years? --This term limitation, established in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 157(a)(1), assures that bankruptcy judges are serving as Article I judges under the U.S. Constitution. Life tenure would... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson On June 23, 2017, Neil Gorsuch issues his first dissenting opinion as a Supreme Court Justice. The case is Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Board (Supreme Court Case No. 16-399). It's about statutory procedures for litigating Federal employee claims. The dissent by Justice Gorsuch illuminates a comparison of ideas with those... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson Federal courts in the U.S. bankruptcy system have been struggling for decades with the extent and limits of bankruptcy court jurisdiction under the U.S. Constitution. The difficulty begins with Articles I and III of the U.S. Constitution: --Article I, Section 8, says: “The Congress shall have power to . . .... Continue Reading →
By Donald L. Swanson The case is Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc., U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 16-349, decided June 12, 2017. The case is on appeal from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The question is whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies when you “purchase a debt and then try to collect... Continue Reading →
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