Real property need not be a debtor’s principal residence in order to qualify for the $21,625 exemption under 11 U.S.C. §522(d)(1). In Re: Lawrence, Thomas S., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-042-12) (5 pages) (Hoffman, J.) (USBC) David M. Nickless, ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A debtor may employ 11 U.S.C. §522(d)(12) to exempt an individual retirement account whose proceeds have been inherited. In Re: Seeling, Holly Anne (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-047-12) (8 pages) (Boroff, J.) (USBC) (Chapter 7 Case No. 11-30957) (May 24, 2012).

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A debtor’s predecessor counsel is entitled to an award of the fees and costs incurred in defending its fee application against the debtor’s meritless allegations of malpractice. In Re: Lupo, Robert N. (Lawyers Weekly No. 04-046-12) (7 pages) (Feeney, J.) ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge did not err in denying a bank’s motion for reconsideration of a fee award to a debtor, as the debtor could have raised the basis for the motion at an earlier stage of the proceedings, ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A judge did not abuse commit an abuse of discretion by admitting evidence of malingering in a railroad worker’s Federal Employers’ Liability Act suit alleging cumulative, or wear-out, injuries to his neck and knees. Crowther v. Consolidated Rail Corporation, et ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

A complaint alleging that the defendant seller of real property violated a federal statute by not disclosing the presence of lead paint must be dismissed as untimely because by the time of the closing in 2003 the plaintiff buyer should ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

Design defect claims against generic drug manufacturers are not preempted by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Bartlett, et al. v. Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-117-12) (27 pages) (Boudin, J.) (1st Circuit) Appealed from ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

Where a federal judge concluded that an insurer had no duty under a commercial general liability policy to defend or indemnify a developer who was sued in a Massachusetts state court for injuries allegedly sustained in the course of construction ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

Where (1) a plaintiff aircraft repair company, which held a commercial general liability policy with the defendant insurance agency, was sued, (2) the defendant disclaimed both coverage and any duty to defend and (3) a U.S. District Court then ruled ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue

The fact that certain tasks associated with a particular position can be either reduced, reassigned or reallocated to a subordinate does not, by itself, render them non-essential. Jones v. Walgreen Co., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-125-12) (27 pages) (Torruella, ...

Tagged with: June 30 2012 issue