What New Bankruptcy Lawyers Need To Know: Beyond The Code

Why listening is a bankruptcy lawyer’s superpower

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Leave a Comment Filed Under: lawyer skills

The initial meeting with a prospective bankruptcy client is the most important work I do as a bankruptcy lawyer. It's also the hardest. The results of that meeting lay the groundwork for the entirety of the case. The challenge is establishing rapport with an utter stranger, who's in distress, and persuading them to spill all of their financial secrets and perceived failings. Well-done, the job is a lot more than establishing what they own and what they owe. The agenda My goals are multiple It's a tall order. And work I wouldn't dream of delegating. Stamping out bankruptcy myths A big part of an initial consultation consists of listening for the misconceptions they bring to the meeting. Those misconceptions range from "you lose everything in bankruptcy" to "I'll never get credit again". Then there's a fleeting "I get to pick and choose which creditors to schedule." And a hint of "creditors get 100% in Chapter 13". Or, "I'm a failure for … [Continue reading...]

Delay Division of Community Property At Peril of Bankruptcy

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Family Law in Bankruptcy

Put off the division of community property in a marital dissolution at your peril. Hesitate and you risk all of the community property being swept up in a bankruptcy by the other spouse. And you'll have little control where community property assets fall. Community property is all in The threat begins with the bankruptcy law provision that all the community property becomes … [Continue reading...]

How to avoid bankruptcy blunders

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, lawyer skills

Avoiding bankruptcy malpractice is a learned skill and necessary for professional survival. If word of mouth from happy clients is the world's best advertising for a bankruptcy lawyer, loud complaints from unhappy clients in the internet age is professional poison. So, for both client and lawyer future wellbeing, it's worth considering how to avoid bankruptcy blunders. For my purposes, … [Continue reading...]

Voluntary Retirement Contributions Not Disposable Income in the 9th

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Chapter 13, Means test

Contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan going forward are excluded from disposable income in Chapter 13, says the 9th Circuit in Saldana, 122 F.4th 333, 19 years after BAPCPA became law. What took so long? Words in the statute matter Congress, in its BAPCPA-typical awkward fashion, said right there, in 541(b)(7)'s hanging paragraph, that amounts withheld for voluntary … [Continue reading...]

2026 Brings Larger California Homestead

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice, Real property

It’s time to check out the California homestead numbers for 2026. The 2021 expanded California homestead not only brought the exemption amount closer to the real cost of housing, it provided for annual adjustments for inflation. The original legislation created a $300,000 floor on the exemption and a $600,000 cap for homeowners, based on the median price of a home in the … [Continue reading...]

Putting the spotlight on Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: business of law

My fellow author at ConsiderChapter13.org Jen Lee called for the bankruptcy bar to do a better job of pitching the manifest strengths of Chapter 13. Ditch the jargon and focus on the facts that are Chapter 13's strenght. Her advice to use head to head comparisons with alternative approaches to debt for the client is right on. Use stories that are relatable and the dollars and cents … [Continue reading...]

BOLO Alert: Community Property in Unexpected Places

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Community property

In law enforcement, BOLO stands for Be On the Look Out. But even outside of law enforcement, BOLO alerts operate. In this case, we as bankruptcy lawyers need to be on the look out for community property. It's easy to think that community property is an issue only for practitioners in the 9 community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, … [Continue reading...]

The Trick To Getting Paid For All Your Work In Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Tired of eating fees at the end of a Chapter 13 when the debtor-client gets a discharge and you get a write off of the unpaid fees? The problem- attorneys fees incurred during the case but unpaid at case end are uncollectible when the debtor gets a discharge. It happens all too frequently when you have cases with multiple complexities or cases with lots of work after the last payment is … [Continue reading...]

Use your authentic voice to humanize yourself and the law

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

The legal chatter is full of the promise of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize the practice of law. It can write your letters, your briefs and your website, they say. But there's a catch here (other than the fact that AI sometimes makes stuff up, including case law, out of whole cloth.): ChatGPT and its ilk write without nuance, warmth, or texture. Those of us in consumer-facing … [Continue reading...]

My Client Communication Strategy: Flood the Zone

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Poor client communication is the source of both client anguish and discontent with the legal profession. Case in point: failure to return calls is the most frequent complaint to the state bar where I practice. As bankruptcy lawyers, we're dealing with people under stress: they are seldom at their best and their capacity to absorb the intricacies of bankruptcy is often limited. Still we need … [Continue reading...]

What I Learned About Bankruptcy on Facebook

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Opinionated

For nearly a year, I’ve been hanging out on a Facebook “bankruptcy support” group. It’s a world full of misunderstanding, fear, and anguish. But it’s also clear to me that our profession can learn some things from that stew, both individually and collectively. Represented, sorta The thing that glares at me is the number of posters who are represented by attorneys, yethave little or no … [Continue reading...]

Still Crazy After All These Years

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

More than four decades after the Bankruptcy Code was enacted, we are still tripping over the lingering conundrums of Chapter 13. Four decades, and appeals courts haven't brought clarity and predictability to what should be a simple, well understood process for individuals to reorganize their financial lives. I speak of course about the mysteries of property of the estate, vesting, and plan … [Continue reading...]

How to Wring Out Every Last Means Test Deduction

By Cathy Moran, Esq. Filed Under: Bankruptcy Practice

Every extra dollar deduction you can wring out on bankruptcy's means test is important. A dollar doesn't sound like a lot, but an extra dollar less in DMI saves a Chapter 13 debtor $60 over the life of a 60 month plan. Every $100 saves $6000. You get the picture. Besides lowering the cost of the case to the debtor, a lower bottom line brings the DMI calculation into better alignment with … [Continue reading...]