The Lawletter Vol 40 No 11

Anne Hemenway—Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group

     There are a variety of reasons why a federal bankruptcy case may be reopened after the debtor has been discharged and the case closed. A debtor may discover a claim, not known at the time the case was pending, and seek to reopen the case to discharge the claim. More typically, a Chapter 7 trustee may seek to reopen a case after discovering potential bankruptcy estate assets that the debtor failed to schedule. The party seeking to reopen may find intense challenges to the motion to reopen, because the reopening can result in a major redistribution of assets. Under the Bankruptcy Code, the bankruptcy court has broad discretionary authority to reopen a case "to administer assets, to accord relief to the debtor, or for other cause." 11 U.S.C. § 350(b).

     Recently, in In re Ludvigsen, BAP No. MB 14-039, Bankr. No. 13-12232-WCH, 2015 WL 3733193 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. Jan. 16, 2015) (not for publication), the First Circuit Appellate Panel stated that a bankruptcy court properly exercises its discretionary authority to reopen a closed bankruptcy case when it does so to determine a substantive dispute on its merits, but does not exercise proper discretionary authority when only technical defects with the closed case are at issue. Further, when determining whether to exercise its discretionary authority, the court should look at each § 350(b) motion on a fact-by-fact basis. Id. at *4 (citing In re Dalezios, 507 B.R. 54, 58 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2014).

The Lawletter Vol 40 No 5

Anne Hemenway, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group

     Workers' compensation claims are often straightforward where the worker has suffered a clear work-related injury in the jurisdiction in which the employer is located. Where a worker has been injured in a work-related accident while traveling in a different state for work, however, different jurisdictions impose specific jurisdictional restrictions notwithstanding the workers' compensation insurance contract. See McIlvaine Trucking, Inc. v. Workers' Comp. Appeal Bd. (States), 810 A.2d 1280 (Pa. 2002) (holding that where a worker who regularly traveled to other states for work was injured in Pennsylvania, the parties' agreement to be bound only by the West Virginia Workers' Compensation Act was unenforceable as against Pennsylvania public policy, which requires in-state workers' injuries to be governed only by the Pennsylvania workers' compensation laws).

The Lawletter Vol 40 No 1

Anne Hemenway, Senior Attorney, National Legal Research Group

     The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the "Credit CARD Act of 2009"), Pub. L. No. 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734, H.R. 627 (2009), amended the Federal Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq., by specifically requiring banks to make additional disclosures to consumers regarding their credit cards. These included disclosures prior to renewal of a credit card, 15 U.S.C. § 1637(d)(1), and disclosures when the creditor makes changes to the terms and notices, as well as advertising disclosures. Additional consumer regulations were later promulgated under the Credit CARD Act of 2009. In August 2010, regulations became effective that provided that if a card issuer prospectively changes the annual percentage rate ("APR") on the card based on certain factors, the card issuer must also apply the same factors to determine whether a reduction in the APR is proper. See 12 C.F.R. §§ 226.52(b), 226.59. Importantly, these regulations also require that a card issuer can assess penalty fees for late payments only in such a way as represents a "reasonable proportion of the total costs incurred by the card issuer." Id. § 226.52(b)(1)(i).