Business Law Insolvency Law Committee

Intro The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (the Third Circuit) recently affirmed a bankruptcy court decision in a chapter 13 case which granted relief from the automatic stay to a mortgage holder, allowing it to complete a foreclosure on the Debtor’s home.  In the intermediate appeal from the bankruptcy court ruling, the district court had also affirmed, but then had dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.  The Third Circuit held that the… Read more

In Zac Fancher v Tulare County, the BAP affirmed dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims, ruling that claim preclusion barred re-litigation of issues already decided in state court and that the abatement lien was valid as it attached by operation of law, regardless of recordation timing, upholding the county’s abatement actions in bankruptcy. Read more

The following is a case update written by ILC Advisor Lieb M. Lerner analyzing In Re Svenhard's Swedish Bakery,  ___ F. 4th ___, 2025 WL 2627837 (9th Cir. Sep 12, 2025), a recent case of interest. Read more

The following is a case update written by Hale Andrew Antico, Chief Counsel of Antico Law Firm, analyzing FAB 5 LLC v. Dye (In re FAB 5 LLC),  2025 WL 2556098 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Sep 5, 2025). Read more

In Fancher, the bankruptcy court held unpaid music royalties nondischargeable under Bankruptcy Code § 523(a)(2) based on fraudulent accounting omissions but held that no fiduciary duty existed under § 523(a)(4) due to lack of entrustment to the manager, as a nonowner. Read more

The following is a profile of the Honorable Magdalena Reyes Bordeaux, the latest in a series of profiles of Ninth Circuit bankruptcy judges.  Judge Reyes Bordeaux and members of the Insolvency Law Committee and Business Law Section Executive Committee met at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse and discussed her personal and professional background, observations from the bench, and other issues of interest. Read more

We are please to share the announcement that the Hon. Judge Scott C. Clarkson has been appointed as Guest Editor of the 2026 Bankruptcy Law Edition of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society’s Western Legal History.   Read more

Does the receivership of a debtor extinguish an in pari delicto defense to the debtor’s claims if the debtor subsequently files bankruptcy? How can judgment-preservation insurance (JPI) help my client? Read more

The following is a case update written by Hale Andrew Antico, Chief Counsel of Antico Law Firm, analyzing In re Barrett, 2025 WL 1783558, 2025 Bankr LEXIS 1534 (BAP 9th Cir. Jun 27, 2025), a recent case of interest. Read more

The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that neither sovereign immunity nor the Younger abstention doctrine constrain bankruptcy courts from enjoining state governmental disciplinary proceedings where the debtor asserts discrimination under 11 U.S.C. section 525(a).  Read more