Circuit Watcher

07-2819 Maxwell v. KPMG LLP
Before EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge, and POSNER and WOOD, Circuit Judges.
POSNER, Circuit Judge. The plaintiff is the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee of a company named marchFIRST. He brought this suit against KPMG, the accounting firm claiming that marchFIRST had been harmed as a result of the accounting firm’s breaching its duty of care in violation of Illinois tort law. He seeks more than $600 million in damages. The district judge withdrew the case from the bankruptcy court and ultimately granted summary judgment in the defendant’s favor. … Maxwell v. KPMG LLP.

07-8006 Buckeye Retirement Co. v. Swegan (In re Swegan)
Before: AUG, PARSONS, and SCOTT, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judges.
JOSEPH M. SCOTT, JR., Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge. Buckeye Retirement Co. (“Buckeye”) appeals the bankruptcy court’s order denying its motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of the debtor Ralph Swegan (“Debtor”) on Buckeye’s complaint seeking an order denying the Debtor a discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(2)(A). Because the Panel disagrees with the bankruptcy court’s restrictive application of “concealment” within the context of § 727(a)(2)(A) and determines that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the Debtor had the requisite intent to “hinder, delay, or defraud” Buckeye in its collection efforts, the order granting the Debtor summary judgment will be reversed and the adversary proceeding remanded for trial. … Buckeye Retirement Co. v. Swegan (In re Swegan).

07-6050 Babin v. Wilson (In re Wilson)
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Arkansas
[PUBLISHED] [Federman, Author, with Schermer and McDonald, Bankruptcy Judges]
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Chapter 13 above-median debtor sought
to claim ownership deduction for automobiles consistent with the
IRS Local Standards, even though debtor did not incur such an expense.
Bankruptcy court’s allowance of this expense is reversed. Debtors who
do not incur vehicle ownership expenses are not permitted to claim the
IRS Standard deductions for such expenses because such expenses are not
applicable under section 707(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I).

07-6065 Blumeyer v. Sosne (In re Blumeyer)
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
[PUBLISHED] [Kressel, Author, with Federman and Mahoney, Circuit Judges]
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. District court did not err in denying
appellant’s motion to reconsider orders in her husband’s bankruptcy
proceeding as her appeal is untimely as to these orders from 2002, 2003
and 2006; further, she was not the aggrieved party and had no standing to
appeal the orders; the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in
denying appellant’s eleventh hour motion to dismiss her bankruptcy
case, as dismissal would not be in the best interests of the creditors who,
after nearly ten years, are about to receive payments on their debts.

07-40265, 07-40266 Drive Financial Svc. v. Jordan
Before GARWOOD, GARZA, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
GARWOOD, Circuit Judge: Appellant Drive Financial Services, L.P. (“Drive Financial”) directly appeals the bankruptcy court’s October 18 and October 23, 2006 orders amending and confirming the Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan submitted by debtors-appellees Bobby and Freda Jordan (the “Jordans”), which provided for interest on Drive Financial’s secured claim on the Jordans’ pickup truck at a “prime-plus” interest rate. For the following reasons, we affirm. … Drive Financial Svc. v. Jordan.

07-2212, 07-2430, 07-2529 Airadigm Commc’ns, Inc. v. FCC (In Re Airadigm Commc’ns, Inc.)
Before FLAUM, KANNE, ROVNER, Circuit Judges.
FLAUM, Circuit Judge. Debtor-appellant, Airadigm Communications, Inc. is a cellular-service provider. In 1996, it successfully bid for fifteen personal communications services (“PCS”) licenses as part of an FCC auction and opted to pay off the licenses under an installment plan set up by the FCC. For Airadigm, however, the airwaves were too turbulent, and by 1999 it had filed for chapter-11 bankruptcy. Almost immediately, the FCC cancelled Airadigm’s PCS licenses and filed a proof of claim in bankruptcy court for the remaining amounts owed under the installment plan. The ensuing reorganization proceeded under the assumption that the licenses were gone, having been validly cancelled. And although the ultimate reorganization plan set out several contingencies in the event the FCC reinstated the licenses—which it never did—it provided little else regarding the licenses’ status after the reorganization. In 2003, the Supreme Court decided NextWave Personal Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 537 U.S. 293 (2003), and held that the FCC could not cancel a debtor’s PCS licenses just because it had filed for bankruptcy. The FCC conceded a few months later that it had been wrong to terminate Airadigm’s licenses and reinstated them as though they had never been cancelled. … Airadigm Commc’ns, Inc. v. FCC (In Re Airadigm Commc’ns, Inc.).

07-6027, 07-6029 Granite Reinsurance Co. v. Acceptance Ins. Co.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska
[PUBLISHED] [Kressel, Chief Judge, with Schermer and Venters, Bankruptcy Judges]
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Reinsurance contract was supported by consideration, and the bankruptcy court did not err in determining that the contract was enforceable against debtor and that Granite was entitled to retain a $6 million premium payment; contract unambiguously stated that the premium was $15 million payable over five years, with no exceptions for early termination or loss of business, and the bankruptcy court erred in determining that the insurer could not recover the premium for the final three years of the contract.

07-8013 Geygan v. World Savings Bank, FSB (In re Nolan)
U.S. Bankruptcy Court - Cincinnati
Before: GREGG, PARSONS, and SCOTT, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judges.
JOSEPH M. SCOTT, JR., Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge. World Savings Bank, FSB (“WSB”) appeals the bankruptcy court’s order granting summary judgment to the bankruptcy trustee (the “Trustee”) on his complaint to avoid the mortgage lien of WSB. The bankruptcy court held that the mortgage’s certificate of acknowledgment did not comply with Ohio law and the Trustee was a bona fide purchaser under the Bankruptcy Code. For the reasons that follow, the bankruptcy court’s order is AFFIRMED. … Geygan v. World Savings Bank, FSB (In re Nolan)

06-4323 LaSala v. Bordier et Cie
USDC for the District of New Jersey
BEFORE: SLOVITER and AMBRO, Circuit Judges, and POLLAK,¹ District Judge
POLLAK, District Judge: In this appeal, we are called upon to decide whether statelaw aiding-and-abetting-breach-of-fiduciary duty claims, which have passed from a corporation to its bankruptcy estate to a trust, may be brought in federal court by the trustees of the trust notwithstanding the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (“SLUSA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78bb. We must further decide whether, under SLUSA, the trustees, as assignees of individual investors in the bankrupt enterprise, may assert, in federal court, against foreign entities, claims characterized as arising under foreign law for aiding and abetting money laundering. For the reasons that follow, we hold that SLUSA is no impediment to federal adjudication of either the state-law or the foreign-law claims. … LaSala v. Bordier et Cie.

1. Honorable Louis H. Pollak, Senior District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation. [↩]