Business Law Insolvency Law Committee

Court denied enforcement of a clause limiting Amazon's liability under its service agreement, ruling that when the agreement was executed damages were not ascertainable and, thus, enforcing the clause would violate public policy. Read more

When a state court defendant has stipulated to facts supporting a state court fraud judgment, those same stipulated facts will support a nondischargeability judgment under Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)(2)(A) based on collateral estoppel. Read more

Trial court abused its discretion in appointing a receiver to aid in collecting a money judgment where there was no evidence showing the judgment debtor was frustrating efforts to collect the judgment. Read more

In Urbina v. Nat’l. Bus. Factors Inc. 979 F.3d 758 (9th Cir. 2020) (“Urbina”), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a debt collector did not qualify for the bona fide error defense in 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(c) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) by contractually obligating its creditor-clients to provide accurate information. Read more

In Lorenzen v. Taggart (In re Taggart), 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40787 (9th Cir., Dec. 30, 2020), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing of its decision in In re Taggart, 980 F.3d 1340 (9th Cir. 2020) (“Taggart 4”), on remand from the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Taggart v. Lorenzen, 139 S. Ct. 1795 (2019) (“Taggart 3”), which reversed Lorenzen v. Taggart (In re Taggart), 888 F.3d 438 (9th Cir. 2018) (“Taggart 2”). Read more

In Avery v. Leya Techs., LLC (In re Protoype Eng’g & Mfg.), 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 1775 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 2020) (“Prototype”) (unpublished), the bankruptcy court ruled that a substantive consolidation claim against a non-debtor entity was a “real property claim” within the meaning of California’s lis pendens statute, Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 405.1-405.61. Read more

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit remanded in part and reversed in part the decision of the bankruptcy court for the Northern District of California that entered a pre-filing order upon a finding that a chapter 7 debtor was a vexatious litigant. Read more

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho affirmed the decision of the bankruptcy court for the District of Idaho finding that a successful creditor in a non-dischargeability proceeding was entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees in prosecuting the action. Read more

In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of a debtor’s claims against a creditor and credit reporting agencies for failure to report payments after discharge, but reversed the District Court holding that a debtor cannot pursue a claim against a lender for failing to report a positive payment history during the bankruptcy proceeding and prior to discharge. Read more

In Emond v. Ryan McCarthy Investments, LLC (“Emond”), __ B.R.__, 2020 Bankr. LEXIS 1543 (May 21, 2020), the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit, in a non-published opinion, ruled that the bankruptcy court abused its discretion by granting a creditor’s motion to extend the deadline to file a complaint objecting to the dischargeability of a debt under 11 U.S.C. section 523 without a finding or showing of cause as required by Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4007(c). Read more