United States First Circuit, 03/21/2012
In re Sullivan, No. 11-1830 Award of attorney’s fees in a Chapter 13 affirmed, where: 1) the bankruptcy court stated that the attorney’s hourly rates were reasonable but that, given the banal nature of the case, the hours claimed were excessive; and 2) it adequately explained why it had come to that conclusion.
United States First Circuit, 03/22/2012
In re Puffer, No. 11-1831 no blanket rule that “fee-only” Chapter 13 plans are per se submitted in bad faith, but rather there may be relatively rare special circumstances in which a “fee only” filing is justified, so the case is remanded for the bankruptcy court to consider the totality of the circumstances when measuring whether the Chapter 13 plan was presented in good faith.