Rochelle's Daily Wire

When chapter 13 cases are converted to chapter 7 before confirmation, bankruptcy courts are split on whether the broad language in Harris v. Viegelahn bars chapter 13 trustees from paying administrative expenses incurred before conversion.

The majority in the Fourth Circuit based a bright-line rule on the presence of the word ‘the’ in Section 327(a).

New York’s Judge Sean Lane saw no reason for forcing holders of a $148 million defamation judgment ‘to wait years’ for a ‘modest distribution.’

To align with congressional intent underpinning Section 365(d)(3), Judge Gravelle gave the landlord an administrative claim for base rent due after filing and before automatic rejection.

Saying that the constitutional infirmity was “small” and “short-lived,” the majority decided that prospective relief was enough because Congress subsequently enacted a law mandating uniformity in the future with regard to fees for U.S. Trustees and Bankruptcy Administrators

Although there was no split of circuits, the Supreme Court decided that Congress provided a sufficient remedy by requiring uniform fees going forward.

The court can’t require a debtor to give a ‘retainer’ to a Subchapter V trustee, Judge Pearson says.

Several justices seemed to believe that ‘prospective relief’ is sufficient to remedy the due process violation because the alternatives are ineffective.

Congress decided to deviate from standard priorities by providing in Section 724 that unsecured domestic support obligations come ahead of tax liens.

The bankruptcy court in Delaware sided with four circuits by directing the U.S. Trustee to give refunds for overpayment of fees that were not uniform throughout the country.