Opinions

 

All court opinions may be accessed at no charge via PACER through the "Written Opinions" link on the Reports page. You must, however, have an account to access the report via CM/ECF or PACER.

 

Access to opinions from 1997 to present, that are PDF searchable, unrestricted & unsealed, are also available through the Government Printing Office using the Advanced Search for Government Publications. There is no login required and publications are available free of charge.


Court Opinions Database

The court's provides free access of some opinions, at the discretion of the judges, for the years 1998 to present. The results shown below are automatically displayed for all years, all judges, and all keywords/topics.

A search may be performed using the Search box above, or filtering by year, judge, and/or keyword/topic. To search for more than one judge and/or keywords/topics simultaneously, hold down the Ctrl key (or Command key) and select each item.

Keywords/Topic Date Title Description Judge
Avoidance Actions, Res Judicata     05/29/2014     Edward Alexander Mazel v. Barry A. Hopkins et al     

On plaintiff's motion, the court struck two of defendant's affirmative defenses on res judicata and relevance grounds.

Judge David T. Thuma
Chapter 13, Valuation     05/23/2014     Ruben Authur Lucero     

Court heard testimony of the debtor and an appraiser and made findings about the value of a residential lot in rural New Mexico.

Judge David T. Thuma
Collateral Estoppel, Dischargeability, Nondischargeability, Summary Judgment     05/06/2014     Benjamin Bates v. Raymond Siggins et al     

Plaintiff sued debtor alleging that a debt was nondischargeable due to fraud.  Debtor moved for summary judgment, arguing that a limitation of remedies in the subject contract precluded entry of a nondischargeable  money judgment.  The court denied the motion, holding, inter alia, that state court judgment entered pre-petition foreclosed such an argument under Rooker-Feldman and related doctrines.

Judge David T. Thuma
Classification of Claims, Punitive Damages, Unfair Discrimination     04/23/2014     Joe Michael Hyatt     

At disclosure statement stage, Court determined that the Debtor’s proposed separate classification of an unsecured claim based on a guaranty secured by non-debtor, third-party collateral was proper.   Debtor also proposed to separately classify the punitive damages portion of a creditor’s unsecured claim resulting in the subordination of the claim to other general unsecured creditors.  The Debtor could not rely on § 510(c) to equitably subordinate the punitive damages claim, but could attempt to achieve subordination through separate classification and treatment, subject to the requirements for separate classification under § 1122 and subject to the prohibition against unfair discrimination found in § 1129(b)(1).  This requires further evidence to be presented at confirmation.

Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz
Discharge, Dismissal, Reconsideration     04/21/2014     Hari Simran Kaur Khalsa     

Debtor sought to reopen her bankruptcy case, closed ten years before, so she could amend her schedules to delete all creditors.  The Court determined that such a course of action was impermissible for a number of reasons, and further that it likely would not benefit the debtor in the way she intended.  The motion was denied.

Judge David T. Thuma
Chapter 11, Dismissal, Dismissal or Conversion, Good Faith     04/11/2014     Melanie Milasinovich     

U.S. Trustee filed motion to dismiss debtor's Chapter 11 case for cause.  Based on the record and docket, the Court found that there was cause to dismiss the case with prejudice to refiling for 180 days.  The cause included the inability to effectuate a plan, improper purpose for filing, and bad faith.  The dismissal with prejudice was based upon debtor's willful failure to attend hearings and prosecute the case.
 

Judge David T. Thuma
Dismissal, Dismissal or Conversion, Good Faith     04/04/2014     Scott Walter Snyder     

Single creditor of Debtor with relatively high income sought dismissal or conversion of Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.  The Debtor alleged that he filed the case in good faith because, despite his high income, he could not both repay this single creditor and save for retirement.  The court held that bad faith is an appropriate basis to dismiss a case, but found that it was inappropriate to dismiss this case based on a 16 factor analysis of good faith.

Judge David T. Thuma
Automatic Stay, Relief from Stay     04/04/2014     Sunland, Inc.     

Business injury claimant moved for relief from stay to pursue pending jury trial action against the debtor in federal court;  Although the movant was willing to limit its recovery to the insurance proceeds, it appeared that there was not enough insurance to pay all claims.  This fact, coupled with the prospect that the trustee could monetize the insurance proceeds and distribute them pro rata to allowed claimants, prompted the court to deny stay relief.

Judge David T. Thuma
Administrative Claims, Appeals, Reconsideration, Sales of Assets     03/27/2014     Sunland, Inc.     

One day after court entered order denying motion to approve auction sale because a late bidder appeared with a much higher price, lower bidder filed a motion to reconsider, for stay, and for other relief.  The court denied the motion to reconsider, denied the motion to stay after reviewing the relevant factors, and denied other relief.

Judge David T. Thuma
Reaffirmation Agreements     03/25/2014     Janice L. Kirk     

Debtor moved to reopen chapter 7 bankruptcy case and set aside the discharge order so she could enter into a reaffirmation agreement.  The court denied the motion, holding that it did not have the authority to set aside the discharge order retroactively, and that without the retroactive effect, the court could not not grant debtor the requested relief.

Judge David T. Thuma

Pages