The Supreme Court has set oral argument in the Wellness case for Wednesday January 14, 2015. Wellness is the followup to Bellingham. The court will resolve the issue, hopefully of whether parties can consent to have the bankruptcy court enter final judgment in a Stern type case. A Stern type case is one where congress has designated the issue to be core but the Supremes have determined that it is “unconsitutionally core,” in other words a dispute where final judgment can be entered only be an Article III court.
In Wellness the Stern type claim is the issue of whether the debtor is the alter ego of a corporate type entity, thereby making the corporate property, property of the individual’s estate. The 7th Circuit ruled that only an Article III court can issue a final judgment on that issue and that that cannot be waived.
I will not be able to attend as I will be in trial here in Los Angeles. I had pretty much decided not to go anyway as I would rather attend the Lam Motion cases which will likely be set for oral argument in April, 2015.