In May 2013 a Wisconsin Court determined that Trentadue committed “significant over‐trial” and ordered that he contribute $25,000 toward his ex‐wife’s Attorneys' fees. Trentadue filed Bankruptcy. The Bankruptcy Court, District Court, and Court of Appeals agreed that the $25,000 was nondischargeable as a Domestic Support Orbligation.Read More

Richard Olson filed four Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Petitions and Plans in a five year period- the last one on the eve of the foreclosure of his home. The assignee of his original mortgage lender Bank of America objected to confirmation of his latest Plan on the basis that it failed to comply with the confirmation...Read More

A customer tries to hold the manufacturer of a product liable for its distributor's failure based on the "special relationship" between the distributor and manufacturer, as well as the customer's status as an alleged intended beneficiary of the arrangement. The 7th Circuit was having none of it.Read More

This case is a testament to the subprime crisis and illustrates how complex and devastating mortgage securitization and pooling was to ordinary homeowners; middle-class people faced with sudden and insurmountable mortgage debt. Sadly, this decision also illustrates just how hard it is to stand up to the holders of pooled mortgage loans.Read More

Continental Casualty Company v. Symons, et al. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Citation: 14-2665, 14-2671 & 15-106 Decided: March 22, 2016 This fraudulent transfer case pits 2 insurance company’s – as well as the controlling family of the seller and their related businesses – against one another. despite some fancy footwork on the part of...Read More

In this case the value of unexpired commercial leases was put to the test. When a popular auto-repair/oil-change franchise went into Chapter 11, its unsecured creditors sought to recoup of the value of 2 unexpired leases it relinquished just before filing. The 7th Circuit analyzed the issue under 2 provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and...Read More

This case stems from the ill-fated Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland Redevelopment project featured on our Blog before. When a Condominium Association sued the developers based on failure to reveal construction defects, the Courts weighed in on whether the claims were time-barred. Untimely, the Appellate and Supreme Court broke with the Trial Court and found that a question of...Read More

In this case from right in our neighborhood - Joliet, Illinois - the Bankruptcy Court and 7th Circuit agree that using the market value of property instead of its artificially low disposal price in a tax sale reflects the real intent of both Bankruptcy law and Illinois law. At the same time, both Courts agree...Read More

This case in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, resulted in a Summary Judgment finding despite the assertion by the Debtor-Defendant of his 5th Amendment Right to be free from self-incrimination. Specifically, this Adversary Case arose from the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filed by Arthur Friedman ("Debtor"). Creditor-Plaintiff, American Eagle Bank...Read More

This case raises the issue of equal protection under the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. An association of convenience stores filed suit against the State of Indiana in the Federal District Court seeking to invalidate a state law restricting the sale of cold packaged beer. Their suit contended that the law violated the Equal Protection...Read More