A cautionary tale in the failure to have written fee agreements and maintain good records of client interactions is evidenced in a recent court decision out of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Committees
In In re Tuscany Energy,[1] the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida recently addressed the issue of whether a pre-petition retainer paid to a debtor’s attorney from an account encumbered by a security interest remains subject to the creditor’s lien.
In a recent ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York, the court ordered the disgorgement of fees paid to the debtors’ counsel, finding that while “no counsel can guarantee success of a case when it is undertaken … the fee allowed must be reasonable for the services actually rendered as they were rendered”.
What should you do when opposing counsel is acting like a jerk? Unless the conduct or action is egregious, in bad faith, and demonstrably harmful to your client, you generally should do nothing. Grow thicker skin.
Rule 9011(b) provides that by presenting to the court a petition, pleading, written motion or other paper, an attorney is certifying that, to the best of the person’s knowledge, information and belief, it is not presented “for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.”
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”) recently ruled In re Scandia Seafood (New York), Inc.[1] that an involuntary chapter 7 bankruptcy case filed against Scandia Seafood (New York), Inc.
If you were looking for something else to worry about at night, ponder the following scenario that forms the basis for the putative class-action complaint brought by the lender group-plaintiffs (the “Plaintiffs”) that was dismissed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and affirmed on appeal in Oakland Police & Fire Retirement System et.al.
In In re Nortel Networks, Inc.,[1] the Delaware Bankruptcy Court concluded that noteholder objections to the Indenture Trustee’s attorney fees must be made “on a timely, not hindsight basis.” The court’s decision serves as sound guidance to indenture trustees that, as long as any attorney’s fees charged were reasonable and pru
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