“Each litigant [in the U.S. legal system] pays [its] own attorney’s fees, win or lose, unless a statute or contract provides otherwise.” Baker Botts LLP v. ASARCO LLP, 135 S. Ct. 2158, 2164 (2015) (6-3), quoting Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 560 U.S. 242, 252-53 (2010). A majority of the U.S.

The Ninth Circuit has overruled its own relatively recent decision and held that a debtor who sues for damages to redress a violation of the automatic stay may recover the reasonable fees it incurs in prosecuting the action, even after the stay violation is cured.

A recent and emerging trend in Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases is lawsuits brought by Chapter 7 trustees to recover from colleges and universities pre-petition tuition payments made by Chapter 7 debtors for their adult children’s post-secondary education. While many of these cases have settled, thus not resulting in reported decisions, there are four written decisions to date on this subject.¹ This article discusses the legal theory behind these avoidance actions and explores the universe of case law.

A debtor that files a bankruptcy proceeding is automatically protected from collection actions by the bankruptcy “stay,” which stops all creditor actions to collect pre-petition debts. However, excluded from the stay is the “commencement or continuation of a criminal action or proceeding against the debtor.” This is called the “criminal prosecution exception” to the automatic stay. For example, the automatic stay does not stop a criminal prosecution for theft or passing bad checks.

We all learned the first day of our Bankruptcy 101 class in law school that just because a debtor files for bankruptcy doesn’t mean those entities who have guaranteed the debtor’s obligations are off the hook.  Doesn’t ring a bell?  Well if you were sleeping during this part of the lecture, allow us to elaborate.  Unless a guarantor has itself filed for bankruptcy, it will not be afforded protections under the Bankruptcy Code and creditors will not be stopped from looking to the guarantor for payment if the debtor fails to fulfill its obligation.  But what if the debtor&

Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a secured party can perfect its lien on certain of a debtor's assets by the filing of a UCC-1 financing statement. However, Section 9-509 of the UCC provides that a party may file such a financing statement only if the debtor authorizes the filing: either expressly in an authenticated record or, more commonly, by executing a security agreement. The UCC does not specify when a debtor must provide such authorization, but the U.S.

For those readers who have a sophisticated understanding of bankruptcy law, the holdings of Jester v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Jester) will not be surprising.

It is often said that fools and their money are soon parted. In this regard, the former owners of a debtor who used the debtor’s funds to gamble at the Horseshoe Casino (the “Casino”), ultimately losing over $8 million dollars, could aptly be considered fools.

arnoldporter.com PIECES OF THE PUZZLE A Newsletter from Arnold & Porter’s Private Client Services Team Bankruptcy 101 for Investors: Acquiring a Debtor’s Assets in a Bankruptcy Case By Lisa Hill Fenning The first article in this series discussed the immediate impact of a bankruptcy filing on investors and creditors, including the scope of the automatic stay and early case events. This article focuses upon the disposition of a debtor’s assets and business as the result of a bankruptcy filing: how and when the assets or business may be sold, and what to do if you want to buy them.

Imagine this scenario: your client is a contractor, subcontractor or materialman on a construction project. Having completed the work, your client is promptly paid in full. Because of this, your client doesn’t bother to file a mechanic’s lien on the project. However, within 90 days after the payment, the payor, usually the contractor or general contractor (or the owner), files for bankruptcy.