Scouting? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Congress, the federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court all need to recognize this historical reality: bankruptcy is an efficient and effective tool for resolving mass tort cases, as demonstrated by cases with huge-majority approval votes from tort victims. And all those institutions need to prevent... Continue Reading →

Showing contempt? (Photo by Marilyn Swanson) By: Donald L Swanson Can the contempt remedy for a creditor’s violations of the discharge injunction in multiple bankruptcy cases throughout the land be imposed in a class action lawsuit? The answer from the First Circuit Court of Appeals is, “No” (see this linked opinion); and On January 8, 2023,... Continue Reading →

A retrospective look (photo by Marilyn Swanson) By Donald L. Swanson Oral arguments happened on January 9, 2024, at the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. Trustee v. Hammons.  Here is a link to the transcript of those arguments. The Hammons question is this: what’s the proper remedy for unconstitutionality of lesser fees charged by bankruptcy courts... Continue Reading →

By Donald L. Swanson In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issues its unanimous Siegel v. Fitzgerald opinion.  The question in that opinion is: whether fee increases for bankruptcy cases, that exempt cases filed in Alabama and North Carolina, are permissible under the U.S. Constitution clause requiring “uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies”; and if not,... Continue Reading →

By Donald L. Swanson I'm reading a U.S. circuit court's recent bankruptcy opinion that cites Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011).  I'm startled by that and blurt out (to myself), "Who cites Stern anymore?!" and "Is Stern still a thing?!" and "I thought Stern has been narrowed to nearly nothing?!" And then I see... Continue Reading →

By: Donald L Swanson Oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. happened on December 4, 2023.  Here is a link to the official transcript of such arguments. My Impression I’ve read that transcript—and still don't know what the Court is going to do.  But based on the comments/questions of the... Continue Reading →

By: Donald L Swanson In Purdue Pharma, the U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari on this question: “Whether the Bankruptcy Code authorizes a court to approve, as part of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, a release that extinguishes claims held by nondebtors against nondebtor third parties, without the claimants’ consent” (emphasis... Continue Reading →