Law Commons^™

Reimagining “Reasonableness” Under Section 330(A) In A World Of Technology, Data, And Artificial Intelligence, Nancy B. Rapoport, Joseph R. Tiano Jr.

Scholarly Works

Transformations in the legal industry’s supply chain caused by legal technology and innovative service delivery models have triggered the need for courts to reimagine how to assess the reasonableness of legal fees under 11 U.S.C. § 330. In nearly every other industry, when there are changes or fluctuations in supply chain costs, it is typical for the market price paid by end-users or consumers to fluctuate as well. Market forces organically dictate the reasonableness of the market prices in light of current production cost and demand. In contrast, the legal industry hasn’t kept up with a unified, market-driven supply cost …

Billing Judgment, Nancy B. Rapoport, Joseph R. Tiano Jr.

Scholarly Works

In most situations, when a lawyer sends a bill to a client, the client pays the fees. When the client believes that a fee or expense is unreasonable, the client will ask for reductions. Conscientious lawyers review a bill before sending it to the client, exercising judgment in terms of what fees and expenses are reasonable. But in bankruptcy cases, the estate pays the court-appointed professionals' fees and expenses out of unsecured funds or from a cash collateral carve-out. Thus, the responsibility for scrutinizing the fees and expenses falls not to a particular client, but to the court, per 11 …

Telling The Story On Your Timesheets: A Fee Examiner's Tips For Creditors' Lawyers And Bankruptcy Estate Professionals, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This essay discusses how much of a lawyer’s embedded assumptions and cognitive errors can come across in something as simple as a time entry on a bill. So much can be revealed about how a lawyer views himself or herself in society and about the lawyer’s relationship with the client that it’s worth examining what we can find when we look at legal bills.

A Contemporary Approach To Ride-Through, Ipso Facto Clauses, And The Nondefaulting Debtor, Lawrence Ponoroff

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Using General Counsel To Set The Tone For Work In Large Chapter 11 Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This Essay suggests that one way for the general counsel to help bankruptcy professionals make better staffing and budget decisions is to communicate her values more clearly to those professionals at the beginning of the engagement. In her role as the chief legal officer, the general counsel needs to let the bankruptcy professionals in on her thought processes. How does she watch over her own attorneys' decisions in other types of cases? What expenses does she consider reasonable? If she takes an active role in monitoring her bankruptcy professionals' work, her values (assuming that they're good values) will contribute to …

Client-Focused Management Of Expectations For Legal Fees In Large Chapter 11 Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

Large chapter 11 cases can have fees that run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. That's one of the reasons that, in 2013, the Executive Office of the United States Trustee promulgated additional guidelines that affect legal fees in large chapter 11 cases. Bankruptcy courts have been appointing fee examiners and fee committees in large cases to aid the courts in their duty to ensure that the fees and expenses of estate-paid professionals are reasonable. I've been one of those people charged with helping bankruptcy courts review fees. As such, I've seen first-hand what happens when the professionals involved …

Sfr Inv.’S Pool 1, Llc V. U.S. Bank Nat’L Ass’N, 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 45 (Sept. 26, 2019), Brittni Tanenbaum

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

When a court grants retroactive annulment for an automatic bankruptcy stay on a property, a sale of the property during the stay will not be set aside, unless it can be shown that fraud, oppression, or unfairness occurred during the sales process.

Unreasonably Risky: Why A Negligence Standard Should Replace The Bankruptcy Code's Fraudulent Intent Analysis For Gambling Debts, Spencer H. Newman

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ln Mgmt. Llc Series 5105 Portraits Place V. Green Tree Loan Servicing Llc, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 55 (Aug. 03, 2017), Wesley Lemay Jr.

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

If a homeowner that owns property in Nevada but declares bankruptcy in Texas and fails to list the Home Owners Association (HOA) as a creditor, the HOA cannot violate the automatic stay imposed by the bankruptcy and sell the property. If the property is sold in violation of the automatic stay, the sale is invalid. Under Ninth Circuit law, the sale is void ab initio while the Fifth Circuit holds that these types of sales are voidable, but can be approved by the bankruptcy court.

K&P Homes V. Christiana Trust, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 51 (July 27, 2017), Yolanda Carapia

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined that the SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A. decision, extinguishing first security interests, applies retroactively to all foreclosures occurring prior to the date of the decision and since NRS 116.3116’s inception.

Kaplan V. Dutra, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 80 (Dec. 1, 2016) (En Banc), Hayley Cummings

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court, sitting en banc, reviewed a certified question from the United States Bankruptcy Court, determining that under NRS 21.010(1)(u) a debtor is entitled to a personal injury exemption of $16,150 for each personal injury claim.

Tower Homes V. Heaton, Nev. Adv. Op. 62, (Aug. 12, 2016), Sydney Campau

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Nevada Supreme Court determined that granting creditors control over a debtor’s legal malpractice claim and any proceeds resulting from the action constituted an improper assignment of a legal malpractice claim that was contrary to public policy.

Becker V. Becker, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 85 (Oct. 29, 2015), Paul George

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

In response to a certified question by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada, the Court concluded that under NRS 21.090(1)(bb) a debtor can exempt his stock in the corporations described in NRS 78.746(2), but his economic interest in that stock is still subject to the charging order remedy in NRS 78.746(1).

In Re Montierth, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 55, Walter Fick

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held that the separation of a promissory note, held by a principal, and the deed of trust, held by an agent of the principal, does not render either instrument “void,” or require the reunification of the note and the deed of trust in order to foreclose. The Court further held that, under Nevada law and in the case of a contractual principal-agent relationship, the recordation of an assignment of a deed of trust is a “ministerial act.”

Rehabilitating Bankruptcy Reform, Kara J. Bruce

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Bankruptcy, Debt & Gaming Law Symposium, Jennifer L. Carleton

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

An introduction to the symposium issue on Bankruptcy, Debt & Gaming Law.

The Long And Winding Road: State Sovereign Immunity's Effect On Gaming License Revocation For The Casino Debtor, Christopher M. Humes

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

One of the most vital and contentious proceedings between a casino debtor and a regulatory agency is a post-petition license revocation hearing. Much debate exists about whether the license qualifies as property of the estate and whether the regulatory agency can be exempted from the protections inherent in the Bankruptcy Code due to the use of police and regulatory power. However, maybe the most contentious and impactful debate is whether the regulatory agency is free from the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction due to the Eleventh Amendment’s guarantee of sovereign immunity.

At the center of the tension concerning sovereign immunity lies 11 …

Introduction: Bankruptcy, Debt & Gaming Law Symposium, Robert D. Faiss

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

An introduction to the symposium issue on Bankruptcy, Debt & Gaming Law.

Gaming Restructuring In Nevada, Jennifer L. Carleton, Andrew D. Moore

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

In this Article, we examine the various laws and regulations that affect a gaming enterprise debtor and its creditors. We examine various examples of overleveraged gaming companies operating in Nevada and the steps taken to modify these companies’ financial obligations. Our analysis focuses on four gaming companies that filed for bankruptcy protection—Tropicana Entertainment, Station Casinos, Riviera Holdings, and Black Gaming-and three gaming companies that restructured their debt obligations, through differing procedures but without filing for bankruptcy protection—Cosmopolitan, M Resort, and Palms.

When Gaming Goes Heads Up With The Bankruptcy Code: Unique Restructuring Issues For Gaming Businesses In Difficult Economic Times, Dawn M. Cica, Laury M. Macauley

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The intersection of gaming and bankruptcy law has long presented legal conflicts that have never been easily reconciled. This problem has been exacerbated in recent years by the current global and national economic turbulence that has greatly impacted the casino gaming industry and has led to a sizeable increase in the number of businesses using bankruptcy to restructure and/or liquidate assets.

The Case For Value Billing In Chapter 11, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article explores the forces contributing to very high professional fees in large Chapter 11 cases and suggests that lawyers might want to consider valuing their services in ways other than the traditional billable hour approach.

When The Chips Are Down: Do Indian Tribes With Insolvent Gaming Operations Have The Ability To File For Bankruptcy Under The Federal Bankruptcy Code?, Corina Rocha Pandeli

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

Indian gaming has become increasingly popular in the United States, with casino and resort facilities on federally recognized Indian land rivaling the likes of Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos. Since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (“IGRA”), gaming activities on Indian reservations across the country have skyrocketed, providing a substantive source of revenue to once economically downtrodden tribes. The IGRA places Indian tribes involved in gaming operations in a unique position because it affords them federal protection and oversight with respect to gaming operations, whereas state law regulates private gaming operations. In a relatively short …

Not Out Of The (Fox)Woods Yet: Indian Gaming And The Bankruptcy Code, Emir Aly Crowne, Andrew Black, S. Alex Constantin

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The recent economic downturn has caused Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of the largest casinos in the world, to seek a restructuring of nearly $1.5 billion in debt. Ordinarily, bankruptcy proceedings are triggered when a typical commercial enterprise defaults on its debt. Under these proceedings, creditors step in and collect monies owed to them before any residual equity is dispersed amongst owners. The rub here is that Foxwoods is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Western Pequot Tribal Nation, a sovereign nation under U.S. federal law. This triggers questions of paramountcy; namely, whether tribunal sovereignty can trump federal bankruptcy law.

These …

Through Gritted Teeth And Clenched Jaw: Court-Initiated Sanctions In Bankruptcy Opinions, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article discusses what types of behavior can trigger a bankruptcy court's initiation of sanctions against an attorney.

Rethinking Professional Fees In Chapter 11 Cases, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

This article discusses the many ways in which professional fees can spiral out of control in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and evaluates the possible ways to monitor and control those fees.

(Almost) Everything We Learned About Pleasing Bankruptcy Judges, We Learned In Kindergarten, Nancy B. Rapoport, Roland Bernier Iii

Scholarly Works

In this essay, we demonstrate that most ethics violations (at least the ones that irritate bankruptcy judges) are also violations of simple rules of behavior that people should have learned in kindergarten.

Bankruptcy Pro Bono Representation Of Consumers: The Seven Deadly Sins, Nancy B. Rapoport, Roland Bernier Iii

Scholarly Works

This article attempts to walk the reader through the morass left by BAPCPA, using the seven deadly sins as its motif.

Bankruptcy Filing Rates After A Major Hurricane, Robert M. Lawless

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Foxes Guarding The Henhouse: The Modern Best Interests Of Creditors Test In Chapter 11 Reorganizations, Jonathan Hicks

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Enron And The New Disinterestedness - The Foxes Are Guarding The Henhouse, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

Discussion of the 2005 amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as those changes relate to conflicts of interest of investment bankers.