Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Download the new self-calculating Chapter 13 Model Plan attached to this post in .pdf format.

And Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Download now or preview on posterous

Ch13_Plan_Calculating_10-15-2010.pdf (253 KB)

Hey Microsoft, stick this in your hard drive! Google Apps for Business, already fast gaining ground with both Fortune 500 and SMB customers with its dead simple suite of cloud-driven, maintenance-free business applications, just brought the smack down, introducing over 60 new applications (all Google properties) to every account for the save bargain price of $0/month. Game, set, match.

Bankruptcy: In re marchFirst, Inc, 01 B 24742

Adversary: Trustee v. Penn Media, 03 A 01141

Opinion Issued: October 14, 2010

By; The Hon. A. Benjamin Goldgar

Upshot: Trustee moves to recover a payment as part preference and part fraudulent transfer. Defendant, a creditor with which debtor did business, moves for summary judgment. Creditor/Defendant's motion is granted as to the preference and denied as to the fraudulent transfer.

Click here to view and download the opinion in .pdf format.

Hat tip to Retrevo for this totally cool information about who uses which kind of Smartphone where, and with what frequency.

In re: Kleibrink (Cir. 5, Sep. 28)

In a debtor's appeal from a district court's affirmance of a bankruptcy court's ruling that a creditor held an enforceable security interest in a property of his, despite his having received a discharge in an earlier bankruptcy proceeding, the order is affirmed where the notice given to the creditor did not satisfy the due process standard for notice set forth in Mullane.

In re: NM Holdings Co., LLC (Cir. 6, Sep. 30)

In a bankruptcy trustee's suit against debtor-company's former auditor, claiming that the auditor negligently performed its audits by failing to uncover and report unsound related-party transactions entered into by the company's sole shareholder and CEO, as well as aided and abetted the CEO's breach of his fiduciary duty to the company, district court's grant of the auditor's motion for summary judgment is affirmed where: 1) the trustee's amended complaint does not allege reliance by the company or by the company's fairness committee, and the alleged reliance by the company's creditors cannot support a claim brought by the trustee on behalf of the company; and 2) district court did not err in holding that the residual statute of limitations applied to the trustee's aiding-and-abetting claim.

In Re: Res. Tech. Corp. (Cir. 7, Oct. 1)

District Court affirmed Bankruptcy Court's rejection of Trustee's proposed assignment of Debtor's contracts to a company managed by its former officers in exchange for that company paying debtor's operating expenses because

1) Bankruptcy court carefully evaluated the assumption-and-assignment proposal under section 365(f)(2)(B), and its decision to deny the trustee's motion was sound;

2) There was no reason to disturb Bankruptcy judge's determination that the company failed to comply with its order requiring an escrow deposit; and

3) District Court's contempt finding was fully supported by the record, and the court thoroughly considered and properly rejected the company's defense to contempt.

Reed v. City of Arlington (Sep.17) (Cir. 5)

In a Chapter 7 case in which debtors omitted a pending $1 Million+ judgment from sworn statements and filings, district court's order discharging debts and allowing the Trustee to collect on behalf of the Estate is reversed to protect the integrity of the judicial processes.

Deutsche Bank v. Tucker (Sep. 15) (Cr. 6)

Chapter 13 Debtor claims that she need only cure the amount of her mortgage default that is secured, and that all additional fees and expenses should be treated as unsecured. The bankruptcy court agreed, but the district court vacated and remanded. Following remand the bankruptcy court held that bank fees and advances allowed under the Note, Mortgage, and applicable State law, should be included in the cure amount set forth in the Chapter 13 Plan.

In re: Gebhart (Sept. 14) (Cir. 9)

Court may have property sold and any non-exempt equity distributed even if the property only rose in value after the filing date. In this case the value of debtors' home increased during his Chapter 7 and the bankruptcy court's order approving appointment of a broker was affirmed on appeal. The fact that the value of the debtor's homestead exemption, plus encumbrances, had been equal to the market value of the residence at the time of filing did not prevent the trustee from taking advantage of the windfall.