In civil disputes — including bankruptcy litigation — it is not uncommon for questions to arise about a client’s potential exposure to criminal liability, whether the client is a party or a witness. Civil litigators must therefore understand the role of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in the civil context.
While many California homeowners have heard of the homestead exemption, few understand how this powerful tool can be used to ensure that homeowners stay in their homes, despite creditors, judgments, and even bankruptcies. Below, the experienced California bankruptcy attorneys at Talkov Law provide the tips and tricks to maximize your California homestead exemption.
On June 30, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 350 (“SB 350”), which is intended to serve as a backstop for customers as Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) completes its restructuring process and begins implementing the reorganization plan recently confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court.
Cuker Interactive, LLC filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on December 13, 2018, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California.
On Friday 7 October 2016, McCullough Robertson successfully obtained orders on behalf of a US Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee, requiring payment to her of money held by the Public Trustee of Queensland (Public Trustee) on behalf of a US bankrupt and her former husband. As far as we know, this is the first time that the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (Model Law) has been used in Australia to obtain an order allowing the repatriation of funds to a foreign representative that are not the foreign debtor’s assets.
The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (“SBRA”) became effective on February 19, 2020, after being enacted by Congress at blazing speed. Indeed, the legislation was first introduced into the House of Representatives on June 18, 2019, was received by the Senate on July 24, 2019 and was signed by the President on August 23, 2019. The SBRA is intended to help small businesses restructure their debts in bankruptcy more effectively.
California law allows a commercial lender to recover default interest from a borrower under certain circumstances. Separately, bankruptcy law permits a secured creditor with a lien on collateral valued more than the debt to recover its default interest from the bankruptcy estate. Both state and federal law mandate that the default rate of interest should not be a penalty. However, these principles do not address what happens when the borrower or bankruptcy trustee objects to a lender’s recovery of its default interest on the grounds that such interest constitutes an unenforceable penalty.
On November 27, 2019, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali issued a Memorandum Decision on Inverse Condemnation (“Memorandum Decision”) in PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric’s (together, “PG&E”) Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceeding in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California (Case No. 19-30088).
On October 7, California Governor Gavin Newsome signed SB 616 into law. This new law, which goes into effect on September 1, 2020, includes changes to California law regarding garnishments.
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