New York

Critical Vendor Motion Heads for the Second Circuit

New York district court upholds a typical critical vendor order.

Lawyer for Madoff Customer Slapped with $57,347 Discovery Sanction

Calling the Madoff trustee a liar and basing a discovery motion on facts known to be false resulted in sanctions under Rule 37(a)(5)(B).

Judge Finds a Workaround to Avoid Using Nunc Pro Tunc Retentions

Judge Grossman finds a way to grant allowances of compensation for services performed before the entry of a retention order.

District Court Strictly Enforces ‘Adequate Assurance’ Standards for Shopping Centers

District court reverses and bars Sears from assigning Mall of America lease.

Bankruptcy Court Still Has Power to Enter Final Judgments by Default after Wellness

Failure to respond to a well-pleaded complaint implies consent for the bankruptcy court to enter final judgment in an avoidance action, Judge Glenn rules.

May a Chapter 13 Plan Pay a Larger Percentage Toward Student Loans?

Since Congress has made student loans virtually nondischargeable, why can’t a chapter 13 plan discriminate in favor of paying more toward student loans?

Technicalities Insulated a Lawyer from Liability for Misusing an IOLA

A creditor lost a dischargeability suit by failing to call the right witnesses to prove that a lawyer’s trust account was used to hide assets.

A Chapter 11 Filing Can Extend an Inflexible Closing Date by 60 Days

Filing a chapter 11 petition to obtain an automatic 60-day extension of a closing date is not a bad faith filing, Judge Bernstein says.

Courts Interpret Brunner Too Harshly, Bankruptcy Judge Cecelia Morris Says

A debtor with a law degree but only $37,500 in gross annual income was permitted to discharge more than $220,000 in student loans.

Holding a Contempt Hearing May Be Ok, but the Remedy Might Violate Automatic Stay

A contempt hearing fell under the ‘criminal’ exception to the automatic stay, but jailing a debtor to coerce payment of a prepetition debt violated the stay, Judge Grossman ruled.

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