Circuit Court of Appeals Cases

2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, June 22, 2010
In re Delta Airlines, Inc., --- F.3d --- (2nd Cir. 2010)(sustaining of objections to claims under tax indemnification agreements reversed where: 1) court's construction of "pay" in agreement in error; and 2) the bankruptcy court effectively nullified the agreements by stripping them of their ability to protect the Owner Participant in the event of debtor's default)

5th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 21, 2010
In re Wilborn, --- F.3d --- 5th Cir. 2010)(proposed class in this case did not satisfy the requirements of FRCP 23 and FRBP 7023)

7th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 23, 2010
In re McKinney, --- F.3d --- (7th Cir. 2010)(appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as, although the issue that the tax debt owner cares about may have been resolved, its basic dispute with the bankruptcy estate has not been resolved and therefore the judgment of the bankruptcy court is not final)

10th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 23, 2010
In re Trout, --- F.3d --- (10th Cir. 2010)(trustee, having successfully avoided a preferential vehicle lien under section 547, the trustee was not entitled to a money judgment equal to the value of the avoided liens under section 550(a), where the bankruptcy estate had been sufficiently returned to its pre-transfer status by avoiding the preferential lien at issue and stepping into the lien priority of the avoided creditor under section 551)

U.S. Supreme Court, June 17, 2010

Schwab v. Reilly, --- US --- (2010)(debtor gave “the value of [her] claimed exemption[s]” on Schedule C dollar amounts within the range the Code allows for what it defines as the “property claimed as exempt,” the trustee was not required to object to the exemptions in order to preserve the estate’s right to retain any value in the equipment beyond the value of the exempt interest)

1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 15, 2010
In re Nosek, --- F.3d --- (1st Cir. 2010)(In a creditor's appeal from a $250,000 sanction issued sua sponte by the bankruptcy court, the sanction is reduced to $5,000 where: 1)creditor's claim that it was the holder of the mortgage at issue was not a deliberate falsehood or intended in any way to mislead the court or debtor or achieve anything for creditor; and 2) the bankruptcy court did not identify any actual prejudice from the inaccurate claim of holder status)(Note: David Souter sat on the panel in this appeal)

2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, June 15, 2010
SEC v. Byers, --- F.3d --- (2nd Cir 2010)(In nonparties' appeal from the district court's order holding that its jurisdiction in rem and its equitable powers provided it with sufficient authority to issue an injunction barring non-parties from filing involuntary bankruptcy petitions against any of the defendants, the order is affirmed where, while it should be sparsely exercised, district courts possess the authority and discretion to enter anti-litigation orders, including those that bar the filing of involuntary bankruptcy petitions absent the district court's permission)

9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 09, 2010
In re Southern Cal. Sunbelt Developers, --- F.3d --- (9th Cir. 2010)(In actions seeking damages for filing of involuntary bankruptcy petitions against two alleged debtors, judgment for damages is affirmed in part where: 1) 11 U.S.C. section 303(i) permits an award of attorney's fees for a section 303 action as a whole, including fees incurred to litigate claims for fees and damages under section 303(i)(1) and (2); 2) section 303(i) permits an award of punitive damages under section 303(i)(2)(B) in the absence of an award of actual damages under section 303(i)(2)(A); and 3) award against two individual appellants jointly and severally liable for the costs and attorney's fees the debtors incurred in obtaining dismissal of the involuntary petitions is proper. However, the judgment is reversed in part where the bankruptcy court erred by holding the individual appellants liable for the debtors' costs and fees incurred on the section 303(i) motions themselves)




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