Double your tax returns, double your fun? Well, maybe taxes aren’t fun, but they are inevitable. Mastering the gem of the short tax year can mark you as a bankruptcy lawyer who really knows his stuff. The option of selecting a short tax year in bankruptcy is too little understood and too seldom used. This […]
Looking To Be Sued?
Making a special appearance for a colleague has the potential to embroil you in a malpractice suit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but making a “special appearance” for another attorney creates an attorney client relationship between you and the debtor. This is the rule in California anyway, found in Streit v. Covington […]
More Tax Refund Tweaks to Thwart Trustees
Checking the client’s prior tax return and grilling the client allowed my partner to find and exempt a $20,000 tax refund likely to arrive post petition, despite the fact the client never mentioned it. The client hadn’t listed the expected tax refund in his questionnaire, but admitted, when asked, that he usually got a substantial […]
What You Need To Know About Converted Cases
“No, Mr. Trustee, you can’t have my client’s tax refund.” Honestly, those have to be some of the most satisfying words I’ve utterly lately. How’d I get away with it? Just guess. I read the code! Actually, my co panelists on two recent presentations on vesting and conversion educated me. Jill Michaux and Doug Jacobs […]
Getting The Fundamentals
It’s a romantic notion that we can dive into the deep end of the pool and swim like an Olympian. The reality, however, is remarkably different. It’s human nature to believe that we’re uniquely qualified by our law degree to tackle even the most difficult of situations even in the absence of training or experience. […]
When It’s Good To Be Abandoned
Quick: what’s § 554? It’s the section that allows any party to move for an order compelling the trustee to abandon property. It’s exceedingly useful and underutlized. Today I’m interested in subsection (b), which reads: (b) On request of a party in interest and after notice and a hearing, the court may order the trustee […]
7 Rules For The 341 Balancing Act
What do you do when a hostile creditor shows up at a 341 meeting, and the proceeding threatens to spin out of control? You balance the purpose of the 341 meeting, disclosure, against your client’s composure and the record being created. Com’on, you didn’t think it would be simple, did you? What goes into that […]
