Opinions
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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 | |
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Abstention, Adversary, Chapter 11, Core Proceedings | 12/22/2021 | Jet Sales West, LLC v. City of El Paso, et al. |
Debtor filed an adversary proceeding, asserting two counts. Count one asked the Court to determine Debtor’s tax liability to the City of El Paso. Count two asked the Court to award money damages for alleged wrongful acts taken in connection with the assessment and collection of the disputed tax. The City moved to dismiss the adversary proceeding, or alternatively for the Court to abstain. The Court denied the City’s motion, reasoning Debtor had standing to bring the adversary proceeding, the City waived sovereign immunity, mandatory abstention did not apply because the tax dispute was a core proceeding, and the facts of the case weighed against permissive abstention.
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Judge David T. Thuma | |
Chapter 11, Dismissal, Good Faith | 12/15/2021 | Jet Sales West, LLC |
The City of El Paso moved to dismiss Debtor’s bankruptcy case as having been filed in bad faith. The City alleged Debtor filed bankruptcy for the sole purpose of gaining a tactical advantage in a tax dispute. The Court denied the motion, reasoning Debtor filed bankruptcy to obtain the benefit of the automatic stay; to be able to pay any taxes it owes the City over time; and for the Court to determine its tax liability to the City. The Court did not rule on whether it could and/or should determine Debtor’s tax liability to the City.
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Judge David T. Thuma | |
Summary Judgment | 12/10/2021 | S-Tek 1, LLC v. Surv-Tek, Inc. et al |
The Court granted in part and denied in part defendants/counter-plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. As counter-plaintiffs, they sought partial summary judgment on claims for liability for breaches of loan documents, pending resolution of defenses at trial. The Court denied the partial summary judgment on liability, because liability cannot be determined where there are defenses to liability. As defendants, they also sought summary judgment denying the requested relief in six claims brought against them. The Court granted summary judgment on one count, denied it on two counts, and granted it in part and denied it in part on two counts; it was moot as to the sixth claim, which had been withdrawn.
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Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
Chapter 11, Confirmation | 12/09/2021 | S-Tek 1, LLC |
A separately classified undersecured creditor making the § 1111(b) election to treat its entire claim as secured does not automatically forfeit its right to vote its secured claim. If its secured claim is impaired under the plan, such creditor making the § 1111(b) election may vote its impaired secured claim to accept or reject the debtor’s plan and only relinquishes its right to vote what would otherwise be its unsecured deficiency claim. |
Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
Valuation | 12/09/2021 | S-Tek 1, LLC |
For purposes of plan confirmation, collateral a debtor will retain for its post-confirmation busines should be valued under § 506(a) as of or near the date of the confirmation hearing, although the Court left open the possibility of using a different date in unusual circumstances.
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Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
Claim Objection | 12/06/2021 | Trucking & Contracting Services |
The Court sustained the debtor’s objection to creditor’s claim and disallowed the claim in its entirety. Creditor did not meet its burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence (or even by a preponderance of the evidence) that a scrivener’s error in a guaranty agreement identifying a non-debtor entity in the signature block was the result of the parties’ mutual mistake sufficient to warrant reformation of the agreement under New Mexico law.
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Chief Judge Robert H. Jacobvitz | |
Adversary Proceedings - Procedural Matters, Avoidance Actions, Claim Preclusion, Default Judgment | 12/03/2021 | Philip J. Montoya v. Sheaneh Sattari |
In successive motions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b), Defendant sought to set aside a default judgment entered against her in favor of the chapter 7 trustee in an avoidance action. Since the first motion was denied without prejudice, the trustee’s argument that the present motion is barred by claim preclusion fails. Finding that Defendant did not show excusable neglect for failing to file an answer or otherwise respond to the complaint, the motion, brought pursuant to Rule 60(b)(1), is denied on the merits. |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
Adversary, Chapter 13, Dischargeability, Divorce/Separation | 11/24/2021 | Darrell J. Newton v. Josephine M. Baglio et al |
Plaintiff Darrell Newton and Defendant Josephine Baglio agreed to the entry of a final decree dissolving their marriage. The decree, which apportioned their community property, included an equal division of Plaintiff’s pension plan. Plaintiff subsequently defaulted under the final decree in a number of material respects. After repeated attempts to get Plaintiff to pay as agreed, the divorce court entered a money judgment against Plaintiff and ordered that Plaintiff’s right to receive half the pension plan payments be assigned to Defendant, thereby increasing her interest in the plan to 100%. Plaintiff brought this adversary proceeding against Defendant, seeking to avoid the assignment as either a preferential transfer or a judicial lien impairing an exemption. Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing the debt is a domestic support obligation that cannot be avoided as a preference or judicial lien. Alternatively, Defendant disputed whether the assignment of Plaintiff’s pension was actually a judicial lien. The Court denied Defendant’s motion, reasoning there were genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the debt was a DSO and whether the assignment was a judicial lien. |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
Adversary Proceedings - Procedural Matters, Attorneys Fees, Discovery | 11/19/2021 | Taeki Martin vs. Ramin Zamani-Zadeh |
Based on Plaintiff’s pending motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff objected, and gave non-responsive responses, to Defendant’s requests for discovery. After the Court denied the motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff should have provided adequate supplemental discovery responses. Plaintiff failed to do so. Defendant filed a motion to compel, seeking attorneys fees and sanctions. Thereafter, Plaintiff provided supplemental, but still inadequate, discovery responses. Plaintiff’s counsel shall be required to reimburse Defendant for his expenses incurred and filing the motion to compel and to correct the deficiencies of the current discovery responses. Defendant’s request for sanction is denied. |
Judge David T. Thuma | |
Adversary Proceedings - Procedural Matters, Evidence | 11/19/2021 | Taeki Martin v. Ramin Zamani-Zadeh |
As evidence at a trial of her nondischargeability claim, Plaintiff seeks to admit an audio recording of a state court trial at which Defendant did not appear. Evaluating the matter under Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1), the Court concludes that Plaintiff’s recorded testimony is admissible at trial. The recorded testimony of the remaining witnesses will not be admitted. |
Judge David T. Thuma |