New Cases For the Week of December 9, 2002

United States v. Cutter (DBN Subscription Required)	1st Cir.	A transferee who purchases property for less than fair market value prepetition, and is required to return the fraudulent transfer postpetition, is not a "victim" for purposes of restitution sentencing under the federal sentencing guidelines for bankruptcy fraud.
In re Maddigan (DBN Subscription Required)	2d Cir.	The bankruptcy court did not err in reading a family court's order of legal fees as creating a debt a debtor owed to his child as "in the nature of support." As such, this debt was non-dischargeable in bankruptcy pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(5)
In re Baylis (DBN Subscription Required)	1st Cir.	There are three Circuit-level lines of authority of the meaning of "defalcation" for nondischargeability purposes: (i) an innocent mistake can constitute defalcation, (ii) negligence by the fiduciary is required but no more and (iii) at least recklessness by the fiduciary is required. The First Circuit concludes that consistency with the fresh start policy and the other discharge exceptions requires adoption of a fault-based standard, which can arise from recklessness.
In re O'Brien (DBN Subscription Required)	9th Cir.	"A bank, which is able to obtain the most competent counsel, has seen fit to ignore the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and Ninth Circuit rules, and essentially tossed this bankruptcy case in our laps, leaving it to us to figure out the relevant facts and law. We decline to do so. We dismiss the appeal."