The commercial property landlord failed to persuade the bankruptcy court that assigning the debtor’s lease to a new tenant was prohibited by the Bankruptcy Code, provisions in the debtor’s lease or provisions in other tenant’s leases. Background Before the court ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Trustees who alleged fraudulent transfer of assets were found to lack standing because the Bankruptcy Code does not give trustees the authority to avoid the transfer of property interests of non-debtor entities. Background Leah McCurnin filed a voluntary petition for ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A bankruptcy judge has refused to allow a lawyer to discharge debts to a bonding company because the debts were caused by the lawyer’s defalcation in handling fiduciary accounts. In 2013, Manassas attorney Timothy A. Ward was suspended from law ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Struggling con­sumers in­creasingly are seeking finan­cial help from online lenders, but consumer lawyers warn the relief may be only temporary. High interest rates and fees, levied through relentless bank with­drawals, sometimes bring consumers to the bankruptcy they hoped to avoid, ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Good judges, good law­yers and a well-oiled legal system are prov­ing to be an attractive combination at the U.S. Bankrupt­cy Court in Richmond. Struggling corporations seeking sanc­tuary from creditors are coming to Rich­mond in greater numbers these days, passing by ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Gymboree Judge Keith L. Phillips Judge Kevin R. Huennekens Patriot Coal Corporation Penn Virginia Corporation U.S. Bankruptcy Court Richmond

A Richmond U.S. Bankruptcy Court says a chapter 7 trustee may seek recovery in this case against Sterne Agee as successor entities; the weight of authority outside this circuit supports the conclusion that a successor liability claim constitutes property of ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

In debtors’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, the Richmond U.S. Bankruptcy Court sustains debtors’ objection to a claim filed by American Express Centurion Bank and disallows the bank’s unsecured claim for $67,927.75 on a credit card opened in husband debtor’s name. ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A creditor who continued prosecution of a civil claim against debtors in a Spotsylvania state court after they filed their Chapter 7 petition, violated the automatic stay in bankruptcy and caused debtors actual damages in the form of lost wages ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

A Richmond U.S. Bankruptcy Court denies a Chapter 7 trustee’s motion to surcharge EVB, holder of a judgment lien against debtor, for $102,142.50 in attorney’s fees for expenses the trustee claims were incurred for the benefit of EVB; the trustee ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips U.S. Bankruptcy Court

Richmond’s two federal bankruptcy judges banned a Richmond lawyer from their courts for four months earlier this year. The sanction for alleged poor practice was upheld Sept. 26 by a U.S. district judge. The judges said attorney Darryl A. Parker ...

Tagged with: Bankruptcy Judge Keith L. Phillips Judge Kevin R. Huennekens Sanctions U.S. Bankruptcy Court