Case Summaries

Bankruptcy Law

[12/31] In the Matter of: Owens
Bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing debtor's bad-faith Chapter 11 case rather than converting it to Chapter 7. When deciding between dismissal and conversion under 11 U.S.C. section 1112(b), the court must consider the interests of all the creditors; here, the other creditors would fare worse under Chapter 7 because the accompanying discharge would deny them access to debtor's future income.

[12/31] In re: Belcher
District court erred in allowing bankrupt husband to claim a homestead exemption in marital home because wife's name alone appeared on the title. Husband's potential equitable property interests in the home under divorce law, and his "possessory interest" in the family residence as spouse of the homeowner, were insufficient to permit him to claim the homestead exemption.

[12/30] In re: Marshall
Balance transfers from one credit card to another, made by debtors during the ninety-day period prior to the filing of their Chapter 7 petition, are preferential transfers under 11 U.S.C. section 547(b). Such payments constitute transfers of "an interest of the Debtor in property," because the debtor exercises control over the loaned proceeds even if he is never in actual possession of them, and such transactions deplete the bankruptcy estate.

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Contracts

[12/31] Eastern Seaboard Constr., Inc. v. Gray Constr., Inc.
In an arbitration to resolve dispute between defendant-contractor and plaintiff-construction company, decision vacating amended arbitration award and denying plaintiff prejudgment interest on its award is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded where the arbitrator's omission of the $66,613.89 contract balance in the initial award, rather than a redetermination of the merits, was the type of "clerical, typographical, technical or computational error[]" which AAA Rule 47 permitted him to amend or clarify.

[12/31] Conner Bros. Constr. Co. v. Geren
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals correctly denied contractor's claim for delay damages caused when Army denied access to construction site for 41 days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, because the sovereign acts doctrine shielded the Army from any liability for its decision to deny access to the construction site for security purposes while Army Rangers prepared for deployment.

[12/31] Holmes v. Potter
Reduction in former postal employee's annuity was not a breach of the settlement agreement arising from his Rehabilitation Act claim, because although that agreement did set his retirement date: 1) the agreement did not discuss the amount of money he would be paid during retirement or how that retirement pay would be computed; and 2) the agreement was unambiguous, and therefore the mediator's statements to the plaintiff were inadmissible.

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Family Law

[12/31] In re: Belcher
District court erred in allowing bankrupt husband to claim a homestead exemption in marital home because wife's name alone appeared on the title. Husband's potential equitable property interests in the home under divorce law, and his "possessory interest" in the family residence as spouse of the homeowner, were insufficient to permit him to claim the homestead exemption.

[12/23] Jose O. v. The Superior Court of San Diego County
In a family law matter, petition for review of decision denying petitioner-father reunification services is denied where father made no showing that the court abused its discretion by not providing reunification services for him after finding section 361.5(b)(6) applied.

[12/23] In re H.E.
In a family law case, dispositional orders declaring minor-daughters dependents of the juvenile court and maintaining them in foster care is affirmed over defendant-mother's claim there there was insufficient evidence to support the court's removal and reasonable effort findings.

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