Case Updates

According to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, a Chapter 7 debtor who was awarded part of his ex-wife’s Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and her 401(k) account in their prepetition dissolution proceeding may not claim those funds as exempt “retirement funds” under Section 522(b)(3)(C). Lerbakken v. Sieloff & Assoc., P.A. (In re Lerbakken), 949 F. 3d 432 (8th Cir. 2020). Read more

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals adopted the D.C. Court of Appeals’ responses to questions which it had certified to it, holding that hourly-billed matters are not property of a law firm; that after a partner leaves a law firm, the partner does not have a duty to account to the prior firm for profits on hourly-billed matters; and that a dissolved law firm has no interest in hourly fees earned post-dissolution. Diamond v. Hogan Lovells US LLP, 2020 WL 946025 (9th Cir., Feb. 27, 2020). Read more

FIC ebulletin prepared by Mike Slattery, Tom Kelch and Barry Glaser, Bankruptcy Practice Group at Lamb & Kawakami LLP On February 19, a new bankruptcy law became effective. The new law makes it easier for borrowers to change the terms of secured loans. Keep reading. The end of this article summarizes those changes. It’s ironic, but it costs a lot of money for a business to go through a Chapter 11 reorganization. There is a lot of paperwork and court… Read more

A rundown of recent Family Law cases. Read more

The Supreme Court of Kentucky, relying on provisions in the Kentucky version of the Uniform Commercial Code, ruled that a promissory note was a “negotiable instrument” even though it referenced the possibility of another agreement when defining indebtedness and default. Read more

In a case of first impression, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the right of parties to contract for conditions precedent to preclude the unintentional formation of a partnership without an explicit waiver of the conditions. Read more

A District Court vacated and remanded a Bankruptcy Court order authorizing the assumption and assignment of a lease between Sears and Mall of America, because the District Court found that the Bankruptcy Court had improperly allowed a provision in the lease to override the statutory mandate of Bankruptcy Code section 365(b)(3)(A) requiring similar financial condition. Read more

The following is an update regarding two decisions issued February 27, 2020 by the California Supreme Court involving hearsay testimony and expert witnesses. Read more

A California bankruptcy court has held that a state court judgment previously entered against the Chapter 7 debtor, for secretly selling real property in which creditor had an unrecorded beneficial interest and diverting sales proceeds to her own use, is preclusive in creditor’s adversary proceeding to determine his debt nondischargeable. Read more

In a case of first impression, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the right of parties to contract for conditions precedent to preclude the unintentional formation of a partnership without an explicit waiver of the conditions. Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. v. Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., 2020 WL 622763 (Tex. 1/31/20). Read more