Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Bankruptcy — attorney fees

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 4, 2014//

Bankruptcy — attorney fees

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 4, 2014//

Listen to this article

U.S. Supreme Court

Civil

Bankruptcy — attorney fees

The Bankruptcy Court exceeded the limits of its authority when it ordered that the $75,000 protected by a debtor’s homestead exemption be made available to pay the trustee’s attorney’s fees.

A bankruptcy court may not exercise its authority to “carry out” the provisions of the Code, 11 U. S. C. §105(a), or its “inherent power . . . to sanction ‘abusive litigation practices,’ ” Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Mass., 549 U. S. 365, 375–376, by taking action prohibited elsewhere in the Code. Here, the Bankruptcy Court’s “surcharge” contravened §522, which (by reference to California law) entitled Law to exempt $75,000 of equity in his home from the bankruptcy estate,§522(b)(3)(A), and which made that $75,000 “not liable for payment of any administrative expense,” §522(k), including attorney’s fees, see §503(b)(2). The surcharge thus exceeded the limits of both the court’s authority under §105(a) and its inherent powers.

435 Fed. Appx. 697, reversed and remanded.

12-5196 Law v. Siegel

Scalia, J.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests