By Michael L. Temin and Martha B. Chovanes

To give a reorganized debtor a “fresh start,” the Bankruptcy Code provides that the confirmation of a plan discharges the debtor from any debt that arose before the confirmation date.  However, if a potential claimant lacks sufficient notice of a bankruptcy proceeding, due process considerations dictate that…

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1930(a)(6), chapter 11 debtors must pay a quarterly fee to the United States Trustee for deposit in the United States Treasury, until the case is converted or dismissed.  The fee is based on a formula tied to the amount of disbursements made by the debtor during each quarter of the…

When the Bankruptcy Code was first enacted in 1978, student loan debt could be discharged either after the passage of five years since the repayment obligation began, or if repayment would impose an undue hardship on the debtor or his/her dependents.  In 1990, the five-year waiting period was extended to seven years, and then in…

Although enacted before the COVID-19 pandemic, the new Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code seems almost prescient now and could be a game-changer for small businesses looking to restructure.  Indeed, the Subchapter V provisions became effective on February 19, 2020, not a moment too soon given that the pandemic gripped the country…

In a recent article for Bloomberg Law, Mark Hall and I examined why consumer bankruptcy filings have not (yet) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as initially predicted, despite a significant uptick in commercial Chapter 11 filings.  Through the end of September, consumer bankruptcy filings were behind the pace of filings for 2019 and for…