New Cases

New Cases For the Week of July 10, 2000 - July 14, 2000

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July 14, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

In re Milwaukee Engraving Company	7th Cir.	Debtor's law firm which also represents creditor can be disinterested if the creditor is in healthy financial condition A law firm whose application to represent the debtor is denied for lack of disinterestedness cannot receive payment for work done between the petition date and the date of the order denying the application.
In re McIntyre	9th Cir.	IRS can levy on delinquent taxpayer's pension plan. Under California community property law, nondebtor spouse's community property interest in debtor's pension plan is exposed to IRS levies.
In re Kaypro	9th Cir.	Prepetition payments under debt restructuring agreements can, under appropriate circumstances, constitute payments in the ordinary course of business under 11 USC 547(c)(2). However, determination is a question of fact that depends on the nature of industry practice.
In re Pleasants	4th Cir.	Prepetition misrepresentation by debtor regarding his educational background rendered debt nondischargable under 11 USC 523(a)(2)(A).
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July 13, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

In re: 60 East 80th Street Equities, Inc.	2nd Cir.	Debtor in insolvent estate has no standing to appeal sale of property by estate, and such appeal constitutes bad faith, warranting sanctions
In re Greene	9th Cir.	Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9006 does not operate to extend 90 day preference period further backward when the 90th day falls on a weekend or holiday. Under the Rules Enabling Act, Rule 9006 cannot be used to extend substantive statutory time periods. The issue of whether the 90-day preference period is counted backward from the petition date or forward from the transfer date is rendered moot by the decision in this case, since the result will be the same using either method.

July 12, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

Pershing Park v. United Pacific	9th Cir.	An individual debtor's standing to pursue a lawsuit owned by a bankruptcy estate does not implicate Constitutional (i.e., jurisdictional) standing issues, only "prudential standing." Thus, when an intangible asset (bad faith claim against debtors' insurance company) is property of a bankruptcy estate, an individual debtor nevertheless has standing to pursue the claim if the defendant does not timely raise the standing issue at the trial level.
In re America West Airlines	9th Cir.	Texas personal property tax lien is avoidable pursuant to 11 USC 545(2) Taxing authority which does not voluntarily relinquish its avoidable tax lien will have its tax claim disallowed in full pursuant to 11 USC 502(d), even after the statute of limitations has expired for avoidance of the lien.
In re Compton Impressions, Ltd.	9th Cir.	Debtor's professional fees allegedly incurred in connection with completion and sale of collateral did not sufficiently benefit lender to justify surcharge.

July 11, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

In re Texas Secs. Industries	5th Cir.	Court cannot reduce estate attorney's fees based on lodestar factors when employment was approved pursuant to 11 USC 328 rather than 11 USC 330.

July 10, 2000
Case	Court	Holding

In re Telfair	11th Cir.	In Chapter 13 cases, secured creditors can add postconfirmation attorneys fees to amount of debt without violating 11 USC 506, which only applies to postpetition - preconfirmation attorneys fees. Postconfirmation property of the debtor not necessary for plan payments is not property of the estate in Chapter 13.
Christopher's Arizona Transp. Serv. v. Duncan (unpublished)	4th Cir.	A judgment creditor can recover damages for both (i) fraudulent conveyances and (ii) later misrepresentations by debtor and others regarding nature and extent of assets, without having to elect between remedies.
In re Williams	11th Cir.	Criminal case rule that late notice of appeal filed by pro se appellant will be treated as motion for extension of time based on excusable neglect does not apply to civil bankruptcy appeal by pro se appellant, and late notice of appeal in such a case results in dismissal.