A bankruptcy courtroom By: Donald L Swanson Bankruptcy benefits for individual debtors are a tough sell—always have been.  That’s because no one likes bankruptcy—unless they need it. But relieving people from debts in unfortunate circumstances is essential to our collective way of life in these United States.  That’s always been true. What follows is the third... Continue Reading →

An early-days U.S. courtroom (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Bankruptcy benefits for individual debtors are a tough sell—always have been.  That’s because no one likes bankruptcy—unless they need it. But relieving people from debts in unfortunate circumstances is essential to our collective way of life in these United States.  That’s always been true.... Continue Reading →

Ancient Athens (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Bankruptcy benefits for individual debtors are a tough sell—always have been.  That’s because no one likes bankruptcy—unless they need it. But relieving people from debts in unfortunate circumstances is essential to our collective way of life in these United States.  That’s always been true. What follows... Continue Reading →

Fiduciary capacity? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson A bankruptcy discharge “does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt-- . . . for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity.”  11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4). The effect of this “fiduciary capacity” statute is newly before the U.S. Supreme Court on a petition... Continue Reading →

Precedent for today’s cell phones? By: Donald L Swanson Here are a couple long-standing and foundational policies for the entire bankruptcy system: Bankruptcy laws protect the honest but unfortunate debtor; and Discharge exceptions are to be strictly construed against the objecting creditor and liberally construed in favor of debtor. So, for all my decades of practice... Continue Reading →

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 →

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 →

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 →