New Bankruptcy Cases - December 4, 2000

December 6, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

Albrecht v. Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Young, P.C.	10th Cir.	Where bankruptcy court denied a trustee's initial nunc pro tunc application to employ a firm as general and interim counsel, but later granted a second application to employ the firm as special counsel, the court did not err in denying the trustee's second application for payment of legal fees attributable to the two-month nunc pro tunc period. In considering the initial nunc pro tunc application, the court found that the trustee had failed to demonstrate the existence of extraordinary circumstances warranting nunc pro tunc employment, and the firm's later approval as special counsel did not vitiate this ruling.
In re Young	1st Cir.	Declining to follow a minority of Circuits which hold that tolling can sometimes be avoided based on equitable considerations, the Court holds that the 3-year statutory count down period for tax dischargeability, contained in 11 USC 507(a)(8)(A)(i), is automatically tolled during the pendency of an automatic stay in bankruptcies filed during the period.

December 4, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

In re Collins	3rd Cir.	In order to conserve common fund assets in mass asbestos claims, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has the authority to permit litigation of compensatory damages claims while abating litigation of punitive damages claims.