In Crawford v. LVNV Funding, LLC, No. 13-12389 (July 10, 2014), the Eleventh Circuit held that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits filing a proof of claim on a time-barred debt in bankruptcy court, where the party attempting to collect knows the debt is time barred. The appellate court observed that a “deluge has swept through U.S. bankruptcy courts” of consumer debt buyers attempting to collect expired debts from debtors in Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Three years ago, in Stern v.

Legal Fees Earned by Departed Partners in Now-Defunct Law Firms Determined Not to Be Property of the Bankrupt Firm

HIGHLIGHTS:

The recent Eleventh Circuit case of In re Brown, 746 F.3d 1236 (2014) held that 11 U.S.C. § 506(a)(2)'s replacement value standard applies even when a Chapter 7 or 13 debtor surrenders collateral under 11 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(5)(C). The Eleventh Circuit's decision in In re Brown has an important role in how personal property collateral will be valued in Chapter 7 and 13 cases in the Eleventh Circuit and thus its reasoning is important for creditors to understand.

Latham & Watkins operates worldwide as a limited liability partnership organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (USA) with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the practice in the United
Kingdom, France, Italy and Singapore and as affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan. The Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi is Latham & Watkins associated office in the

Creditors contemplating the bold step of commencing an involuntary bankruptcy case against a putative debtor may wish to consider a recent decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota Court, 

Last Friday, the Sixth Circuit postponed oral argument in some of the pending cases in the appeal from the bankruptcy judge’s decision that Detroit was entitled to creditor protection under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and could try to alter the terms of workers’ pensions. The postponement was apparently granted to allow various pension groups to settle with the city.

In re Elk Grove Village Petroleum, 510 B.R. 594 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2014) –

The Senate begins debate today on a bill to prevent the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The bill, already passed by the House and supported by the White House, provides the best chance for Congress to prevent the projected insolvency given the upcoming August recess. Although the Senate is considering four amendments to the bill, under the short time frame before recess and the urgency to pass a stopgap measure, the bill is likely to pass without amendment so that it will not have to return for another vote in the House.

ON THE HILL

Canons of statutory construction are used frequently to resolve ambiguities in the Bankruptcy Code. In