Courts Must Use Inherent Powers for Sanctions on Pro Se Litigants, Eleventh Circuit Says
In a nonprecedential opinion, the Eleventh Circuit holds that 28 U.S.C. § 1927 may not be used to impose monetary sanctions on pro se litigants.
A Suit Nominally Against a Debtor Does/Doesn’t Violate the Discharge Injunction
In the Tenth Circuit, there’s a workaround for courts that believe it’s not possible to modify the statutory discharge injunction.
A Promise Not to Enforce a Judgment Meant There Was No Discharge Violation
The inability to modify a Section 524(a) discharge put the Ninth Circuit BAP in a bind.
There’s Reciprocal Fee-Shifting in California When a Contract Has Unilateral Fee-Shifting
In California, bringing litigation with a marginal possibility of success could be a bad bet whenever a contract permits one side to recover attorneys’ fees.
Comparative Fault Doesn’t Require Reduced Attorneys’ Fees for Discharge Violations
Seventh Circuit holds that comparative fault requires a reduction in compensatory damages for a discharge violation but not for a debtor’s attorneys’ fees.
State Bar Disciplinary Proceedings Aren’t Barred by the Automatic Stay or Discharge
A BAP decision raises the question of whether Ninth Circuit authority has been implicitly overruled by Supreme Court decisions.
Sale of a Debtor’s Claim Was Champertous and Void, Fifth Circuit Says
Selling a debtor’s claims must be structured to avoid champerty under state law.
Panel Trustee’s Personal Misconduct Was Grounds for Removal for ‘Cause,’ BAP Says
The panel trustee had been found in state court to be a spousal abuser who lied in obtaining a Covid loan.
On a Split, Ninth Circuit BAP Holds: Misconduct in ‘11’ Doesn’t Prevent Conversion to ‘7’
Given that chapter 7 has remedies like denial of discharge for a debtor’s misconduct, bad faith in chapter 11 doesn’t allow dismissal on conversion to chapter 7.