All posts in Community

Mark Your Calendar for the Earle Hagen Golf Tournament

By | January 1, 2013 | Community, Pro Bono | 1 Comment

To:  Just About Everyone With An E-Mail Address (In Other Words, Everyone Except Paul Winkler):

SAVE THE DATE of Monday September 30, 2013.  That’s the date of the FIFTH Annual Earle Hagen Memorial Golf And Tennis Tournament.  We’re going to have this year at the Porter Ranch Country Club in Northridge.   Why should you attend?  That’s simple:

1.  It’s for a wonderful tax deductible cause.  Proceeds benefit Public Counsel’s Debtor Assistance Program.  The Tournament has now generated over $110,000.00 in its four year history, including over $32,000.00 in 2012.  Our goal is to raise over $50,000.00 in 2013, which is the approximate equivalent of one full-time salaried attorney.  Help us reach our goal!

2.  It’s a ton of fun.  We design the golf tournament to be a blast for all caliber of players.  Never picked up a golf club in your life before, other than perhaps in anger?  No problem.  We try hard make certain that each foursome has the ideal blend of ability.  “A” players are teamed together, and “B” players are teamed together.

3.  Even if you don’t care to play golf and tennis, come at a reduced price to the dinner and silent auction!  Also a blast, especially with a hosted bar.

4.  You don’t have to be a debtors’ attorney to come and have a good time.  Creditors’ attorneys are not only welcome, but encouraged to come as well.  We promise we won’t make fun of you.

5.  Be seen!  Every tournament, we get a few more Central District judges and trustees to attend.  It’s an excellent opportunity to hang in a social setting with the professionals you usually only see in court.

6.  The 2012 tournament was held on October 1 on the assumption that the weather would be cool…but it turned out to be the hottest day of the year.  So this year we moved it up to September 30…therefore much less likely to be as hot as October 1.

Details will follow in the coming months, but…SAVE THE DATE!  And have a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

The Earle Hagen Memorial Golf Tournament Committee

Congratulations to Hale Antico! This Year’s Bow Tie Winner (Calvin Ashland Awards Dinner)

By | December 28, 2012 | Current Events | 1 Comment

Check him out at the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Monitor

—
Christine A. Wilton, Esq.
Law Office of Christine A. Wilton

Four Upcoming Seminars in Riverside

By | December 22, 2012 | Chapter 13, Programs | No comments

Free Chapter 13 Means Test Seminar: January 16, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. in Riverside. Riverside Chapter 13 Staff attorney Bridget Kelly will present a free brown bag seminar on the Chapter 13 Means Test. No need to RSVP, however arrive early as many people will attend. The location is the meeting of creditors room in Riverside: 3801 University, Riverside, CA 92501.

How to Discharge Taxes in Bankruptcy Seminar. Arnie Wuhrman, from Serenity Legal will present his seminar on Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy on Saturday, January 26, 2013 from 9:00am to 12:30pm. He will include the changes to the case law and updates for 2013.

Bankruptcy Assistants’ Workshop! “It is just us!” This special workshop will be for bankruptcy attorney assistants and paralegals on January 31, 2013 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm. This nuts and bolts seminar will teach your staff with the “best practices” of other offices and allow them to ask questions in a safe environment with people do the same thing for other attorneys. More Information

Chapter 13 : Four Session Mastermind Class. January 24, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. in Riverside. Mike Gouveia will teach a four session “How to Draft a Chapter 13 Plan” class starting January 24 from 3:00 pm to 5:15 pm. (Future dates: Feb. 7, Feb. 21 and March 7, 2013) This “mastermind class” will teach the basics of Chapter 13 and how to draft a Chapter 13 plan. The class is limited to 12 people.

THQ, Large Local Business Files Chapter 11

By | December 21, 2012 | Chapter 11, Current Events | 2 Comments

I often ride my bike past the headquarters for THQ, a large video-game company in Agoura Hills, California.  In fact, it’s the third-largest employer in the city, after Bank of America and the local school district.   Two days ago, it filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the code.  The debtor’s attorneys listed on the filing are Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher in Los Angeles, and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, a local firm in Wilmington, Delaware, where the corporation filed its case.

Even though world headquarters for this company are down the street, the Delaware filing is a reminder that the venue provisions for bankruptcy courts allow a filing in the debtor’s district of (1) residence, (2) domicile (residence and domicile are not the same thing), (3) principal place of business in the United States, (4) principal site of assets in the United States, or (5) incorporation.  The first four work for people as well as corporations: I once filed a case for a U.S. citizen residing in Switzerland by showing that he owned a bank account and shares in a corporation doing business in Agoura Hills.

THQ’s president spins the chapter 11 filing as an opportunity, and I admire that.  The company faced undeniable problems (which, having almost no interest in video games, I am happily ignorant of) and had lost $2 billion in market capitalization over the last six years.  That’s a lot of mojo down the drain.  If, as the company and the LA Times report, the company found an investor to purchase its assets, bankruptcy will be a great vehicle for it to strip off the liens attaching to those assets and allow it to continue doing business and catering to the tastes of hard-core action gamers.  We’re probably all better off in that case, because those guys will stay off the streets, to blow up zombies on their electronic screens, rather than interact with the rest of society.

Update on Jim King

By | December 21, 2012 | Firm Announcements | 1 Comment

Update on Jim King.  Mari sent me a text yesterday morning that Jim went into surgery at 6:30 am and they expect it to last 3-4 hours.  I had called Jim the day before.  He sounded good and very upbeat.  It was not a heartattack, he said, – just some pesky veins that were 100% blocked, some carryover from his heart attack 20 years ago.  Mari asked me to “put out the word.”  She said, “Live from Kaiser in Hollywood.”   Yesterday afternoon, I received word that the surgery went well and Jim was resting comfortably.

Get well Jim, we need you back.

Confirming Chapter 13 Plans – December 20, 2012 – 12 PM

By | December 13, 2012 | Programs | 1 Comment

Dear All:

On Thursday, December 20th at 12 noon at the office of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, a distinguished panel of attorneys will present a one hour presentation on confirming chapter 13 plans. The panel includes debtor and creditor counsel as well as one staff attorney from the Office of Elizabeth Rojas, Chapter 13 Trustee. The program should be lively with feedback from attending attorneys.

The program is important for those bankruptcy attorneys who do not practice often (or not at all) in chapter 13 because you must be able to give good advice to your clients when discussing the chapter 13 option with them. For attorneys who do practice in chapter 13, what better opportunity to learn gems about confirmation issues than this program?

Here are the particulars about the program:

Confirming Chapter 13 Plans
Melissa Besecker, R. Grace Rodriguez, Lee Raphael and Patricia Said
San Fernando Valley Bar Association 5567 Reseda Bl., Ste 200, Tarzana, CA

Read more…

cdcbaa — First Meeting of the Year 1/26/13

By | December 10, 2012 | Programs | 1 Comment

Out first program of the year will be the annual 9th Circuit Review on Saturday Jan 26. I will be joined by Judge Meredith Jury and Judge Neil Bason. Put it on your calendar.  Last year we had 146 attendees and ran out of handouts early. I will bring more this year but we expect a good crowd.

I am working on the materials. I would like to add some briefs on local judge’s rulings on attorneys fees. If you have a case or know of a case where a judge wrote an opinion or at least a memorandum or other written ruling on why or why not he or she allowed or disallowed fees, let me know the case number and I will look at it to include in the materials.

For that matter, any opinion or memorandum written by a local judge about an interesting issue should be brought to my attention.

Thanks.

-Jon Hayes

En Banc Hearing Tuesday in Pasadena

By | December 9, 2012 | Community | 2 Comments

It’s not exactly a bankruptcy issue but in the same ballpark.  On Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear argument on the case below en banc, that is it will be 11 judges instead of three.  I have not had a chance to attend an en banc hearing.  The announcement is below.

December 11 10:00 a.m.
Kilgore v. Keybank National Association
Keybank National Association and others appeal the Northern California district court’s order denying Keybank’s motion to compel arbitration.  Plaintiffs are students who obtained student loans from Keybank to pay for training as helicopter pilots.  They seek to represent a putative class, alleging that Keybank engaged in predatory lending practices when it partnered with Silver State, a sham vocational school that offered the training.  Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief against Keybank to prevent collection of their individual student loan debt.  In a separate appeal, plaintiffs appeal the district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim of their action. Cases 09-16703, 10-15934.

Court Approves $100 million in DIP Financing for American Suzuki

By | December 7, 2012 | Chapter 11, Community | 1 Comment

BREA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–American Suzuki Motor Corporation (“ASMC” or “the Company”) today announced that it has received Court approval for Debtor-In-Possession (“DIP”) financing.  As a result, the Company will be able to borrow up to $50 million for operations and up to $50 million for purchases of inventory from Suzuki Motor Corporation (“SMC”).  These funds will help ensure that ASMC has the cash necessary to operate its business during the pendency of the chapter 11 case.  The motion was previously granted Court approval, on an interim basis, on November 7, 2012.  The full article is here.

Some  great hearings coming up Thursday, December 20 in Santa Ana, including approval of the disclosure statement (already) and approval of the bid procedures for the upcoming auction.  The docket is here. 

Six Golden Bankruptcy Rules

By | December 7, 2012 | Books & Articles, Community | 1 Comment

I updated this article to include the 2005 Amendments.  6 Golden Rules

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