New Cases For the Week of April 18, 2003

In re Saxman (DBN Subscription Required)	9th Cir.	Bankruptcy courts can partially discharge student debt pursuant to equitable authority stated in Bankruptcy Code 105(a).
In re Detrano (DBN Subscription Required)	2d Cir.	In light of the Supreme Court's decision in Archer v. Warner, 538 U.S. ___ (2003), courts are to look beyond the contractual nature of a settlement agreement to determine whether an underlying debt was a debt "for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity" as defined by § 523(a)(4)
In re Montgomery Ward Holding Corp (DBN Subscription Required)	3d Cir.	The bankruptcy court did not err in holding that a casualty values provision in a rejected equipment lease that required the debtor to pay "liquidated damages" that included an expected profit to the lessor was a disguised in terrorem penalty and was unenforceable.