ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting: Committee Educational Session
ABI's 26th Annual Spring Meeting, the networking and CLE event of 2008, will be held April 3-6 at Washington, D.C.'s Renaissance Hotel in the Nation's Capital! Join us during cherry blossom season for exciting and informative sessions, including a luncheon keynote by Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
The Consumer Bankruptcy committee will meet on Saturday, April 5th, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Upcoming Events
In the coming months, ABI has several offerings for the consumer practitioner. On Jan. 28, ABI’s second consumer bankruptcy Webinar stops in Tennessee, where experts including a bankruptcy judge, debtor’s counsel, the U.S. Trustee and a chapter 13 trustee from the Nashville and Memphis areas will look at income, expenses and related issues under BAPCPA. Moderator Felicia S. Turner, ABI’s Deputy Executive Director and a former U.S. Trustee, will be joined by Bankruptcy Judge George W. Emerson Jr. (W.D. Tenn.), Melissa R. Burgess of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (Washington, D.C.), Maria M. Salas of Salas Slocum Law Group PLLC (Nashville) and Standing Chapter 13 Trustee Henry E. ("Hank") Hildebrand III of Lassiter, Tidwell, Davis, Keller & Hogan PLLC (Nashville), who will discuss specific issues, arguments and rulings related to §§707(b) and 1325.
The ABI's 13th Annual Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Conference, to be held at the Westin Tabor Center in Denver from Feb. 14-15, 2008, features four consumer workshops: “Unmarked Hazards: Ethics, Creditor Abuse of Debtors and Remedies;” “Season Pass or One Day Lift Ticket? Almost Poor, but Honest Debtors: Good Faith Test;” “First and Last Runs: First Meetings and Confirmation Hearings under Chapter 13” and “Reading the Trail Map: Pre-bankruptcy Planning under BAPCPA,” among other sessions of general interest.
ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 3-6, 2008, will hold a Consumer Bankruptcy Fundamentals Workshop prior to the opening reception. Consumer programming also includes “Confirmation, Modification and Consummation of Chapter 13 Plans in the post-BAPCPA World” and a great debate entitled “Resolved: Congress Should Amend the Bankruptcy Code to Allow Modification via a Chapter 13 Plan of the First Mortgage on the Consumer Debtor’s Primary Residence.” In the debate, the pro position will feature John Rao from the National Consumer Law Center and the con position will be taken by Prof. G. Marcus Cole from the Stanford Law School.
ABI Establishes Consumer Services Task Force
ABI President Reginald W. Jackson recently established the ABI’s Consumer Services Task Force. The task force, chaired by ABI Executive Committee Member Judge Steven Rhodes, has been asked to identify specific opportunities to meet the needs of consumer bankruptcy lawyers. This Task Force includes: Hon. Barry S. Schermer, Felicia Turner, Claire Ann Resop, John Rao, Leslie Linfield, and Alane A. Becket.
The task force has been meeting regularly and surveying both members and non-members about ABI services. Its report will be presented to the ABI’s Executive Committee in the next few months. The members of the task force thank everyone who participated in the surveys, focus groups and interviews for their time and input.
The Captain and the Creditors
(Norris v. Thomas, 216 S.W.3d 851 (Tex. 2007))
by: Prof. Bob Rains*
The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law
Carlisle, Pa.
Once upon a time, it was all smooth sailing for Tom. Life was going so swimmingly that he had managed to acquire a 68-foot yacht, complete with four bedrooms, three bathrooms (or “heads” as nautical types would say), a galley and upper and lower salons. From stem to stern, Tom’s yacht was worth several hundred thousand dollars. Tom and his wife sold their prior home on the range, moved into the yacht, and ranged from New Orleans to Florida and points beyond.
Unfortunately, Tom’s spending exceeded his means and, when the creditors closed in, he put the yacht in dry-dock and filed for personal bankruptcy. Since the Bankruptcy Code provides that a bankrupt debtor may keep his homestead, Tom claimed his yacht could not be got. But the folks he owed money to felt that Tom should not be able to simply sail away and leave them high and dry.
Update: Projected Disposable Income under BAPCPA
by: William Andrew McNeal Esq.
Becket & Lee LLP; Malvern, Pa.
An earlier article in the Consumer Bankruptcy Committee Newsletter[1] described differing responses to the issue of whether “projected disposable income” is distinguishable from “disposable income” for the purposes of compliance with 11 U.S.C. §§1325(b)(1) and (2). The conclusion observed that the differences among those responses await resolution by review or legislative action. Since then, many bankruptcy courts and three bankruptcy appellate panels have spoken on the issue.
Write for the ABI Consumer Committee eNewsletter
Submissions are always welcome and are a great way to get involved in the ABI when you can’t spare a large block of time. Short articles can survey the law nationally or locally, discuss relevant bankruptcy issues or examine a specific case. If you are interested in writing, contact Newsletter Editor Alane Becket at abecket@becket-lee.com. The next deadline is March 27, 2008.
Practitioners: Take Advantage of the Consumer Committee’s Listserv
The ABI’s Consumer Committee Listserv provides a forum for consumer practitioners to post questions and receive answers from any Committee Member. This invaluable resource takes advantage of other members’ insight, as they share their advice, experience, caselaw citations, and knowledge of local and national practice. The composition of the Consumer Committee means that posters can receive responses from creditors, debtors, and trustees, to questions ranging from every day practice matters to complex legal issues, a resource not available anywhere else. Post questions to abi_consumer_bankruptcy@dizzy.abiworld.org or Click here to post to the Consumer Listserve.