Every day, we read about how artificial intelligence will render our jobs obsolete in the foreseeable future.  A recent decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin may provide a glimpse of what a world in which computers rule the world may look like. In United States Securities and Exchange…

In Chapter 13 bankruptcy, much of the legal proceedings focus on protecting the rights of the debtor. What can be overlooked is that the process also provides protections for creditors. The Maryland creditor’s rights attorneys of Rosenberg Martin Greenberg are experts in taking the fullest advantage of protections available for an individual or corporate creditor.…

In an August 31, 2017 decision in In re DBSI, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that sovereign immunity did not shield the IRS from a suit by a bankruptcy trustee to avoid tax payments as fraudulent conveyances under state law.  The Ninth Circuit disagreed with 2014 decision of…

The common law tenancy by the entireties, recognized in Maryland, Virginia, and a few other states, is a strange and mysterious thing.  It is founded on the premise that married persons constitute a “marital unit” that is a legal entity separate and apart from either spouse.  Consequently, neither spouse owns property held as tenants by…

When a corporation files a case under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, a “bankruptcy estate,” consisting of all of the corporation’s assets as of the petition date, including causes of action against the corporation’s officer and directors, is created and a trustee is appointed to administer the estate.  The trustee’s powers include…

As the old saying goes, “Timing is everything.”  Borrower Richard Sibert certainly found that out in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s July 17, 2017 opinion in Sibert v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. In May of 2008, while Mr. Sibert was serving in the United States Navy, he and his wife…

In the case of Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Walters, all five justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia agreed that West Virginia’s “illegal loan” statute was unambiguous.  While one might think that agreement on that point would be followed by a unanimous ruling in favor of one of the parties to the…

In a May 2015 opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit approved the “structured dismissal” of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Jevic Holding Corporation.  In Jevic, the secured creditors paid $2 million into an account to be used to pay the attorneys’ fees of Jevic and the Official Committee of…

Parties other than those who file for bankruptcy and discharge their obligations to creditors generally view a bankruptcy filing as a bad thing.  The filing of a bankruptcy case prevents creditors from foreclosing on collateral or suing to recover money owed to them and generally results in creditors being paid much less than they are…

When a borrower files a bankruptcy case, for almost all purposes, what would commonly regarded as a single claim secured by collateral is subject to being treated as two claims: a “secured claim” in the amount of the value of the collateral securing the claim and an “unsecured claim” in the amount of the difference…