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New Cases For the Week of March 1, 2004 -
March 5, 2004
Brought to you by BKINFORMATION.COM
- The Source for Business Bankruptcy Information on the Internet
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March
5, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Christy
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
C.D. Ill |
A
corporation's accounts
receivable can be
"wages" entitled to
exclusion from property of the
estate in an
employee/owner/debtor's
bankruptcy, but the debtor
must establish the extent to
which the receivables are
attributable to his efforts
rather then the efforts of
other employees of the
corporation. |
In
re Payne
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Ill. |
A
tax return filed after the IRS
independently assesses a
tax is still a
"return" for
purposes of determining
dischargeability of the tax. |
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March
4, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Fickling
(DBN Subscription Required) |
2d
Cir. |
Fees
earned by debtor's attorneys
during Chapter 11 proceeding
were dischargeable following
involuntary conversion of
debtor's case to a Chapter 7
case |
In
re Alta+Cast LLC
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
DE |
Where
litigation is a threat to a
distressed debtor's ability to raise
capital, a bankruptcy
filing to deal with such
litigation may not be in bad
faith. |
In
re SKA! Design, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
Because
the debtor's unilateral
prepetition abandonment of
leasehold premises did not
amount to a termination of the
lease under State law, the
landlord was entitled to both
a prepetition rent claim under
502(b)(6)(B) and a rejection
damages claim under
502(b)(6)(A). |
In
re Coho Energy, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
Although
a confirmed plan functions as
a contract, retention of
jurisdiction provisions in a
plan cannot expand the limited
jurisdiction of bankruptcy
courts. However, where claims
arose prepetition, and the
confirmed plan contemplates
bankruptcy court adjudication
of such claims (which
adjudication will have an
effect on the debtor),
postconfirmation jurisdiction
over the claims is proper.
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March
3, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Valente
(DBN Subscription Required) |
1st
Cir. |
UFTA
does not preempt the field of
all common law remedies
relating to fraudulent
transfers. Where a conveyance
in fraud of creditors is not
not recoverable under UFTA, it
may nevertheless be avoidable
under common law
equitable principles. |
In
re Buckeye Steel Castings Co.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
6th
Cir. BAP |
The
bankruptcy court lacked
jurisdiction to adjudicate the
effect of an injunction
contained is a free and clear
sale order since there had
been no lawsuit filed
asserting that the injunction
had been violated. |
Yates
v. Hendon
(DBN Subscription Required) |
S.Ct. |
The
working owner and sole
shareholder and president of a
professional corporation may
qualify as a
"participant" in a
pension plan covered by ERISA.
If the plan covers one or more
employees other than the
business owner and his or her
spouse, the working owner may
participate on equal terms
with other plan participants.
Such a working owner, in
common with other employees,
qualifies for the protections
ERISA affords plan
participants and is governed
by the rights and remedies
ERISA specifies |
In
re Doctors Hospital of Hyde
Park, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N. D. Ill. |
The
mere possibility that a
creditor might recover from a
non-debtor and thereby reduce
the amount of the creditor’s
claim against the debtor is
not sufficient to bring that
claim within the “related to”
jurisdiction of the court. |
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March
2, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Payless Cashways, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
8th
Cir. BAP |
A
transaction can be
substantially contemporaneous
even if some temporal
separation exists between the
new value provided and the
payment received. Section
547(c)(1) applies whether the
new value is given before or
after the transfer by the
debtor; the statute requires
only that the exchange be
'substantially'
contemporaneous.
Where
payment was made by EFT within
15 days of receipt of goods by
the debtor per the agreement
between the parties, the
payments were intended to be,
and were, substantially
contemporaneous. |
In
re Burnett
(DBN Subscription Required) |
9th
Cir. BAP |
In
the bankruptcy case of an
individual consumer debtor,
the refusal of a transferee of
a claim to disclose its
purchase price for acquiring
an account does not warrant
disallowance of an otherwise
valid claim. |
In
re Mobley
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
C.D. Ill. |
Administrator
of Ch. 7 debtor's probate
estate has standing to reopen
bankruptcy case and move to
avoid lien on homestead under
11 USC 522(f). |
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March
1, 2004
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Case
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Court
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Holding
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In
re Trans World Airlines, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
DE |
When
a purchaser of the debtor's
assets assumed all worker's
compensation liabilities of
the debtor, a post-sale
settlement between the debtor
and a worker's compensation
claimant did not serve to
release the purchaser from
liability to the claimant. |
In
re Fleming Companies, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
DE |
Determining
whether a proposed assignee of
an executory contract has
provided adequate assurance of
future performance is a
fact-based inquiry that
focuses on the specific facts
of the specific assignment.
Where
a winning bidder/assignee for
an executory contract reserved
the right to assign its rights
to another purchaser, and
where that purchase proposed
to close the facility that was
the subject of the contract,
the assignment of the contract
would not be granted.
The contract contemplated
ongoing operation of the
facility, and the purchaser's
announced intent to close the
facility precluded a finding
of adequate assurance of
future performance of the
contract. |
In
re DVI, Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
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Illinois
law does not delay imposition
of a constructive trust until
a court orders the
remedy. Like other
States, a constructive trust
in Illinois arises when the
wrongful act occurs.
The
court adopts the majority view
that a constructive trust may
be avoided under the3 strong
arm powers of 11 USC 544
despite the terms of section
541(d). However,
avoidance of a constructive
trust under the strong arm
powers requires an analysis of
State law regarding the powers
of bona fide purchasers and
judicial lien creditors
(depending on whether the
trust is asserted against real
or personal property).
Property
allegedly subject to a
constructive trust may be sold
free and clear so long as the
trust attaches to the
proceeds. |
In
re O'Connor
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
Where
a litigant in bankruptcy court
seeks attorney's fees under a
"prevailing party"
statute, the court is
authorized to reduce the
requested fees when the
litigant prevailed only upon
some claims and counsel's
billing records do not
adequately segregate the work
performed with respect to
specific claims. |
In
re Revelle
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
Where
all events necessary to vest
the interest of a beneficiary
under a spendthrift trust have
occurred, the beneficiary's
rights become property of the
estate even if the trustee has
not yet distributed the
property to the
beneficiary. |
In
re Texas Equipment Company,
Inc.
(DBN Subscription Required) |
Bankr.
N.D. Tex. |
An
individual will not be found
to be the
"affiliate" of a
debtor corporation on the
basis of unexercised options
which might, if exercised,
give him 20% control of the
corporation. |
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