bankruptcy court

State attorney general watching St. Pete special needs trust’s bankruptcy, accusations founder took $100M

TAMPA, Fla. – As a federal court appointed a committee of families impacted by the bankruptcy of a special needs trust fund company in St. Petersburg, the Florida Attorney General’s office confirmed it’s keeping an eye on the case.

In a court filing this week, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa named a creditors committee, tasked with following the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration’s bankruptcy case and representing all the families potentially impacted by the situation.

“It just gives us all of a voice and allows us to represent all of the beneficiaries and give them a voice,” said Carol Mulholland, an Orlando mother who is among those appointed to the committee.

RELATED: St. Pete special needs trust fund founder accused of taking $100M becomes target of lawsuit: Court records

The Florida Attorney General’s office, meanwhile, told FOX 13 in a statement that it is following the case, adding, “we are aware, and the appropriate investigative agencies have been notified. We cannot comment further at this time.”

Several families, including Mulholland’s, have said they’ve contacted the FBI.

Last month, the Center filed for bankruptcy, accusing its founder, Leo Govoni, of taking $100 million in unapproved loans from 2009

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March 7, 2024 by ATTORNEY

As threats against judges soar, some speak out

A Greenville, South Carolina, man pleaded guilty on Friday for sending a threatening letter to a federal judge that read, in part, “I have watched you leave the courthouse numerous times and plotted to get my revenge.”

Authorities say the handwritten letter goes on to say, “you best to make sure they lock me away for good cause I’m going to kill you or blow that courthouse up.”

That man, Alvin Parks, was already being held at the Greenville County Detention Center on other charges.

Judge Laura Beyer, who sits on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charlotte, North Carolina, told ABC News that the case, while not involving a bankruptcy judge, is a reminder that “these threats are real.”

“I think we all feel pretty protected at the courthouses when we are here, but it’s the unknown threat, when we are away from the federal courthouse,” she said.

The incident, just one of the skyrocketing number of threats to federal judges, underscores just how dangerous the judicial profession has gotten.

The cases before federal bankruptcy court judges, in particular, deal with very personal issues, from divorce proceedings to someone’s business and that could raise someone’s temperature, according to two

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March 2, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Mediation in Bankruptcy: A Glimpse | Fox Rothschild LLP

If you were a party to a lawsuit or a contested matter in a bankruptcy proceeding, would you be interested in working towards settlement with the assistance of an impartial third party, that is, a mediator, rather than take on the significant cost of litigation and going to trial? More and more parties in bankruptcy cases are answering this question with a resounding yes.  See generally, Mediation Matters: The Use of Mediation in Large Chapter 11 Cases (Part I), ABI Journal, August 2023.

It is difficult to track the use of mediation in bankruptcy cases, as participation in mediation may occur informally and/or referral to mediation may not appear on the docket.  Reliance on mediation, at least in chapter 11 cases, appears to have been occurring for decades.  The results of a 2009 survey of bankruptcy judges revealed that “81 percent of judges reported using mediation in their chapter 11 cases in some capacity and plan negotiation was the most common reason for mediation.” Id. (citing Ralph Peeples, “The Uses of Mediation in Chapter 11 Cases,” 17 Am. Bankr. Inst. L. Rev. 401, 406 (2009), available at abi.org/members/member-resources/law-review).

More recently, there is a growing trend of reliance on

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February 23, 2024 by ATTORNEY

What you need to know

Key takeaways

  • To get student loans discharged, you’ll need to prove that they cause you “undue hardship.”

  • Borrowers can choose between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but they must file a separate adversary proceeding for student loans.

  • The new processes established by the Department of Justice in 2022 has made it easier for borrowers to discharge student loans through bankruptcy.

Filing for student loan bankruptcy is never ideal, but sometimes, having debt discharged is the only way forward. This is especially true if you’ve been struggling financially and cannot repay your debts while still maintaining a minimal standard of living.

Many people believe it’s impossible to get student loans discharged in bankruptcy. That’s not the case — though you have to prove paying down the loans is causing you “undue hardship,” historically a complicated process.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education recently announced that the new guidelines for discharging student loans in bankruptcy have led to an increase in borrowers applying for and qualifying for debt relief.

How to file for student loan bankruptcy

Declaring bankruptcy on student loans is not easy. And it will affect more than just your college debt. Here are

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January 11, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Lights out? Vision Solar files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

CAMDEN – A Gloucester Township solar-power firm under fire from its customers and regulators has filed to liquidate its assets in bankruptcy.

The move by Vision Solar LLC will likely leave its creditors unhappy, too.

Vision Solar LLC, which uses telemarketers to sell solar panels and installations to a residential market. listed assets of $8 million.

But it has liabilities of $119 million, including $96 million in unsecured claims.

The company said it does not expect to have enough money to satisfy unsecured creditors.

Vision Solar can’t pay its debts or “feasibly address litigation” against it in courts across the country, the company said in a Dec. 28 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

A court filing listed more than 50 legal actions against Vision Solar, with many involving claims of consumer fraud. Suits also allege telemarketing violations, unfair termination of employees and lease disputes.

Among other cases, Vision Solar and a South Jersey telemarketing firm agreed to pay $135,000 in July to resolve allegations of misconduct by the U.S. Justice Department and Arizona’s Attorney General.

Among other claims, a suit filed by the agencies said telemarketers repeatedly violated the Do Not Call registry while trying to sell Solar Vision’s

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January 2, 2024 by ATTORNEY
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