state court

Attorney’s Fees For Fraudulent Transfer Deemed Not Dischargeable

One of the most interesting and talked about creditor-debtor — and thus asset protection — cases in recent years was the one which was the subject of my article Lawyer, Law Firm And Bank Exposed To Civil RICO And Other Liability For Assisting A Debtor Post-Claim In Kruse (Nov. 24, 2021). As the article title suggests, this case involves a debtor who engaged in a number of transfers after a car wreck with the specific purpose of defeating the judgment enforcement rights of the very seriously injured victim in that accident. Today, we examine a subsequent ruling in that case which further illustrates that post-claim planning can not only fail, but also put the debtor in a much worse position than if nothing had been done at all.

Christina Kruse won a judgment in excess of $2.5 million against Steven Weller arising out of a auto accident. Later, Kruse brought a fraudulent transfer lawsuit against Weller and others to set aside Weller’s post-claim transfers of his assets to family member and a newly-created LLC. The Iowa state court ultimately entered an order in 2018 which set aside these fraudulent transfers. These are the background facts.

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St. Clare’s pensioners want lawsuit against Albany Diocese restarted after bankruptcy filing

The legal team representing the St. Clare’s Hospital pensioners has filed a motion requesting the case be sent back to state court.

In March, the Diocese of Albany announced it was filing for bankruptcy. Bishop Ed Scharfenberger insisted that the diocese didn’t see any other alternative, after settling 50 of over 400 cases brought under the Child Victims Act.

The filing put a hold on the lawsuits involving 1,100 St. Clare’s pensioners who worked at the former hospital in Schenectady. They lost some or all of their retirement savings when, in March 2019, the St. Clare’s Corporation petitioned the state Supreme Court to dissolve, claiming it had run out of money.

Six months later, a group of advocates, including the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and the AARP, filed a lawsuit against the Diocese seeking damages for the pensioners.

In late 2022 a judge ruled the pensioner’s should merge with one filed in May by the Attorney General’s office.

Meryl Grenadier is a Senior Attorney at AARP Foundation.

“Our clients are what is considered, what is called ‘unsecured creditors’ in the bankruptcy proceeding,” said Grenadier. “And in order to obtain any money out of the bankruptcy

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