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