New Cases - Week of January 9, 2012

New Cases For the Week of January 9, 2012 - January 13, 2012

January 13, 2012
In re Jefferson County, Alabama (DBN)	Bankr. ND AL	With one exception, the automatic stays of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) and 11 U.S.C. § 922(a) prevent the indenture trustee of the municipal debtor's bonds, and the State law receiver of the municipal debtor's assets, from taking further actions in the receivership case and with respect to the municipal debtor's sewer system properties.

January 10, 2012
In re Holly Marine Towing, Incorporated (DBN)	7th Cir.	A debtor and some of its principals both claimed ownership interests in assets that the bankruptcy court ordered sold. The bankruptcy court approved a settlement allocating sale proceeds between the competing claimants. The principals used some of their proceeds to pay attorneys fees owed to the debtor's bankruptcy counsel. An administrative creditor appealed, asserting that there should have been a pro rata distribution among administrative claimants of the funds paid to the attorneys. The bankruptcy court did not err in approving the settlement. The appellate test for a settlement approval order is abuse of the discretion. The bankruptcy court carefully considered the facts and law pertinent to the competing ownership claims. The bankruptcy court's decision was not an abuse of discretion. The fact that the bankruptcy attorneys were paid from no-debtor funds is fatal to the appeal. The appellant would have had no rights in non-debtor funds, and thus could not demand a pro-rata distribution.

January 9, 2012
In The Matter Of Cypresswood Land Partners, I (DBN)	5th Cir.	A district court order remanding a case to the bankruptcy court is not final, and therefore not appealable, if it requires the bankruptcy court to perform judicial rather than ministerial functions. Here, the district court's remand order requires that the bankruptcy court conduct additional fact-finding. This is not a ministerial function. The appeal must be dismissed.