Business Law

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court order affirming denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an adversary proceeding for violations of the Truth in Lending Act. A strong dissent argued that the district court and bankruptcy court properly denied the motion. Tower Loan of Mississippi, LLC v. Willis (Matter of Willis), 2019 WL 6767095 (5th Cir. 2019). Read more

A doctor with San Jose Neurospine (SJN) performed a lumbar microdiscectomy surgery on a patient insured by Aetna after the patient was taken to the emergency room with excruciating back pain. SJN submitted claims to Aetna for reimbursement for the medical services provided, but incorrectly cited non-emergency CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes. Aetna provided reimbursement for “non-emergency surgery.” SJN sent Aetna an appeal letter explaining its initial coding error, but Aetna declined to pay for the emergency services. SJN sued, alleging Aetna violated Health and Safety Code section 1371.4. Aetna moved for summary judgment, arguing that SJN was not entitled to reimbursement for emergency services because its initial bills contained non-emergency codes. SJN responded that its second bill mentioned “ER” and therefore requested reimbursement for emergency services, and filed evidence of the emergency services. The trial court granted Aetna’s motion, reasoning that: “If the doctor doesn’t submit the correct coding on a health insurance claim, he doesn’t get paid for it.” SJN appealed. Read more

The Supreme Court of Virginia, in a case of first impression, joined the majority of states in ruling that the contractual subordination of a first priority lien to a third priority lien was a partial subordination and did not elevate the second priority lien to first position. Futuri Real Estate, Inc. v. Atlantic Trustee Services, LLC, 835 S.E. 2d 75 (Va. Nov. 27, 2019). Read more

Please join the Nonprofit Organizations Committee for a program on the topic of “Gambling and nonprofit fundraising in California.” Our presenter is Jarhett Blonien. Nonprofits often use bingo, raffles, poker nights, and other gaming in fundraising, and employ sweepstakes and contests to generate interest in their programs. This program will provide an overview of the gambling laws in California as they apply to nonprofit organizations. Read more

The Massachusetts Supreme Court, in a case of first impression anywhere in the country, held that the federal Volunteer Protection Act provides a qualified immunity from suit, not just liability. Lynch v. Crawford, 2019 WL 6711385 (Mass. Dec. 10, 2019). Read more

A California appellate court ruled that a party seeking to compel arbitration failed to satisfy its evidentiary burden of showing the plaintiff electronically signed the arbitration agreement using DocuSign. [Fabian v. Renovate America, Inc., 2019 WL 6522978 (Cal. Court of Appeal, Nov. 19, 2019, ordered published on Dec. 4, 2019).] Read more

The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Reverses Bankruptcy Court Because The Court Did Not Require The Filing Of A List of Creditors And Did Not Give An Opportunity For Other Creditors to Join To Meet the Numerosity Requirement. In re QDOS, Inc., Ninth Circuit BAP # CC 18-1301, 2019 WL 5808794 Nov. 7, 2019. Read more

The First Circuit reversed a bankruptcy court order granting summary judgment in favor of a college on a constructive fraudulent transfer claim to avoid and recover tuition payments made by parents who were insolvent and pled guilty to operating a Ponzi scheme. Read more

In Leslie v. Mihranian (In re Mihranian), 937 F.3d 1214 (9th Cir. 2019), in a unanimous opinion, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit in holding that a party moving to substantively consolidate non-debtors with a debtor must give notice of the motion to creditors of the non-debtors as well as the debtor, its creditors and the non-debtors. Read more

In Gwendolyn Washington v. Real Time Resolution, Inc. (In re Washington), 602 B.R. 710 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2019), the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, resolving a split of authority, held that, in a “chapter 20” case, a prior chapter 7 discharge enjoins enforcement of an unsecured claim against the debtor personally, and such claim is not resurrected even after the underlying lien has been stripped and valued at zero in a subsequent chapter 13 case. Read more