The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rarely addresses bankruptcy issues in en banc decisions. That’s why the full-court ruling won by our firm is a big deal for trustees faced with debtors who did not disclose to the bankruptcy court assets won in prior litigation.
The Texas Lawyer cited the significance of the Reed v. City of Arlington case in Bankruptcy law among the factors in naming Singer & Levick, P.C. attorney Todd Hoodenpyle as it’s Appellate Lawyer of the Week.
Singer and Levick, PC is pleased to announce that our client, Diane Reed, the Chapter 7 50considered on an en banc basis. By a 13 to 3 decision, the Fifth Circuit established a general rule that a Chapter 7 Trustee is not judicially estopped from pursuing assets of the estate that a bankruptcy debtor fails to disclose in bankruptcy schedules. In this case, the Court ruled that the trustee is not judicially estopped from pursuing a judgment in excess of $1,000,000 which the Debtor failed to list on his Schedules. This case is significant as debtors frequently omit assets from their bankruptcy schedules. This en banc decision is consistent with decisions of Seventh, Tenth and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
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