The Firm successfully defended our clients in binding arbitration and defeated all claims for breach of contract, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, unfair business practices, unjust enrichment, express indemnity, Civil RICO, and intentional and negligent...
In Warfield v. Nance, No. 24-2745 (9th Cir. Oct. 14, 2025), the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that claim preclusion did not bar the debtor from amending the schedule of exemptions to claim a federal homestead exemption because the claim of federal bankruptcy...
In In re Lacher, the Ninth Circuit's Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ("BAP") resolved two complex legal issues: whether a chapter 7 discharge prevents the California State Bar (the "Bar") from disciplining an attorney and whether the Bar – as a governmental unit of...
In In re Uriostegui, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”) held that bankruptcy code limitations on debtors' state exemptions under § 522(q)(1)(B)(ii) require proof that the fiduciary relationship existed before, not as a result of, the fraudulent...
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“Panel”) recently held that a Chapter 7 trustee and his professionals receiving "more money than unsecured creditors does not necessarily justify a reduction of a . . . trustee's statutory commission or the professionals'...
In In re Cooper, the Ninth Circuit addressed an issue of first impression: whether the Social Security Administration ("SSA") may recoup social security funds that it overpaid to a beneficiary after a chapter 7 discharge from bankruptcy. This underlying case was...
The airline industry has faced its share of turbulence in recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to fluctuating fuel costs and fierce competition. In 2024, Spirit Airlines (“Spirit”) commenced chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to implement a new financial structure,...
In Wolverine Endeavors VIII, LLC v. East West Bank, et al. (In re Carole D. King), BAP No. CC-24-1008 (9th Cir. B.A.P. Oct. 29, 2024), the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit (“BAP”) addressed an issue of first impression: whether, in an involuntary...
In The Lovering Tubbs Trust, et al. v. Hoffman (In re O’Gorman), No. 23-60005 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2024), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s decision that a trustee can avoid a fraudulent transfer under 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1) even if creditors...
In re Michael A. Leite (United States of America v. Mackenzie), No. 23-15825 (9th Cir. Sept. 3, 2024), the Ninth Circuit addressed the proper allocation of sale proceeds in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy when the IRS holds a tax lien that includes both unpaid taxes and...