The Cramdown the Newsletter of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association Editor-In-Chief, Adam Lawton Alpert, Esq
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The Cramdown The Newsletter of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association Editor-in-Chief, Adam Lawton Alpert, Esq. Fall 2007 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE by Shirley C. Arcuri, Esq. Shirley C. Arcuri, P.A. am delighted to serve as the Association’s president for 2007-2008. Although bankruptcy filings were down last year, we ended the 2006-2007 year with no drop in our membership numbersI and we are 300 members strong. Membership in the Association provides a framework for the atmosphere of collegiality which bankruptcy practitioners in the Tampa Division enjoy. The Association’s projects present an opportunity for each of us to get to know one another better, to keep up to date on current bankruptcy issues, and to improve our skills as bankruptcy lawyers. We welcome the involvement of all members. If you are not active in the Association and would like to be, please call or email me, or any of our officers or directors. Just a few of the items we are working on: Our regular luncheon meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month. Our CLE co-chairs, Luis Martinez-Monfort and Edward Peterson, have an excellent lineup of topics and speakers planned for this year. We look forward to seeing you. The Consumer Committee, chaired by Kelley Petry, sponsors monthly pizza lunches and programs in the 5th floor training room at the Courthouse. The regular date for these events is the first Tuesday of every month at noon. Our judges are regular participants in these informal programs, which provide a great opportunity to keep up with the latest developments in consumer practice. Our Community Services Committee, in conjunction with the Bankruptcy Court and Bay Area Legal Services, was awarded a Florida Bar Foundation grant to produce pamphlets and DVDs explaining the revised Bankruptcy Code to pro se filers. Once completed, these items will be available to legal aid and bar associations statewide for dissemination. We are also launching our C.A.R.E. (Credit Abuse Resistance Education) program this year. Judge May is spearheading this program, which was also awarded a Florida continued on p. 3 Inside This Issue President’s Message ...................................................... 1 In The Wake of the Travelers Supreme Court Decision ....5 Tampa/Ft. Myers Divisions Procedural Changes............ 3 Florida Revises Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Statute ..6 People On The Go .......................................................... 3 Creditors’ Rights .................................................................7 32nd Annual Bankruptcy Law & Practice Seminar ........... 4 Case Digest ......................................................................12 The Cramdown can be accessed via the Internet at www.flmb.uscourts.gov and www.brokenbench.org The Cramdown 1 The Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association 2008-2009 Past Presidents Officers and Directors President: Brad Hissing Shirley Arcuri Kass Shuler Solomon Spector Foyle The Cramdown is published four times Shirley C. Arcuri, P.A. & Singer, P.A. per year. Advertising rates are as follows: 4830 W. Kennedy Blvd. Post Office Box 800 Tampa, Florida 33609 Tampa, Florida 33601 [email protected] [email protected] 813-286-4081 813-229-0900 Full Page $400/single issue 7.875w x 9.75h $1,200/4 issues Vice President: Carrie B. Lesser Caryl Delano Bank of America Half Page $200/single issue Addison & Delano, P.A. Post Office Box 31590 7.875w x 4.75h $600/4 issues Post Office Box 2175 Mail Code - FL1-400-16-12 Tampa, Florida 33601-2175 Tampa, Florida 33631-3590 Quarter Page $100/single issue [email protected] [email protected] 813-223-2000 813-225-8181 3.75w x 4.75h $300/4 issues Elena Paras Ketchum Secretary: Business Card $50/single issue Stichter Riedel Blain & Prosser, P.A. Luis Martinez-Monfort 3.75w x 2.375h $150/4 issues 110 E. Madison St. Brewer Perotti Martinez-Monfort, P.A. Tampa, Florida 33602 400 N. Tampa St. Suite 2600 [email protected] Tampa, Florida 33602 813-229-0144 Pricing is based on camera-ready or [email protected] computer generated art being supplied by 813-579-4010 Kelley Petry advertiser. Kelley M. Petry, P.A. Treasurer: Post Office Box 7866 Donald Kirk Tampa, Florida 33673-7866 Art Specifications: ALL ART MUST BE Fowler White Boggs Banker [email protected] 300dpi or higher. Formats accepted: .jpeg; 501 E. Kennedy Blvd. 813-239-0713 .tiff; or print quality .pdf files. Microsoft Tampa, Florida 33602 software is NOT accepted as camera [email protected] Lara Roeske Fernandez ready art. 813-222-2022 Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill & Mullis, P.A. Ad Design services are available through Chairman: 2700 Bank of America Plaza Office Dynamics - Eric - 813-980-3494 Herb Donica 101 East Kennedy Boulevard [email protected] Donica Law Firm, P.A. Tampa, Florida 33602-1102 106 S. Tampania Ave., Suite 250 [email protected] Tampa, Florida 33609 813-223-7474 For information regarding advertising in herb@donica law.com The Cramdown, contact: 813-878-9790 Edward Peterson Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Prosser, P.A. Daniel R. Fogarty Directors: 110 E. Madison Street, Suite 200 Stichter Reidel Blain & Prosser, P.A. Adam Alpert Tampa, Florida 33602 813-229-0144 Bush Ross, P.A. [email protected] [email protected] Post Office Box 3913 813-229-0144 Tampa, Florida 33601 [email protected] Pat Tinker 813-224-9255 Office of U.S. Trustee Graphic Design & Printing by: 501 E. Polk St. Suite 1200 Stephanie Biernacki Anthony Tampa, Florida 33602 Gray Robinson, P.A. [email protected] Post Office Box 3324 813-228-2000 Tampa, Florida 33602 [email protected] 813-273-5000 5802 E. Fowler Ave. Ste. B Temple Terrace, FL 33617 813-980-3494 officedynamicstampa.com 2 The Cramdown a domestic support obligation prior to completing all Tampa/Ft. Myers Divisions payments under the Chapter 13 plan will result in the Procedural Changes case being closed without an entry of a discharge. by Chas. G. Kilcoyne The debtor would be required to file a motion to reopen Deputy In Charge case and pay the prescribed filing fee in order to file one or both of these Certificates in order to obtain a ll Judges in the Tampa/Ft. Myers Divisions have discharge. Amade recent procedural changes that I need to bring to your attention. People On The Go First, in all forms of order concluding a pre-trial conference and setting a contested matter for final by Andrew T. Jenkins, Esq. evidentiary hearing, a new paragraph has been added Bush Ross, P.A. which reads as follows: Camille J. Iurillo with Iurillo & Associates, P.A. “To the extent there are disputes during the conduct of has been named President of the St. Petersburg discovery in this case, the parties shall first confer in Bar Association for 2007-2008. good faith to resolve the issue. If unsuccessful, a party, or any of them, may request a telephone conference Luis Martinez-Monfort has joined the law with the Court at a convenient time for all parties at firm of Brewer Perotti, P.A. as a shareholder. which a court reporter will not be present. If the request The firm has been re-named to Brewer Perotti is granted, then the Court will hear from the parties and advise the parties informally as to how the Court might Martinez-Monfort, P.A. rule if formally presented with the dispute. The Court’s informal ruling shall be without prejudice to the right of Suzy Tate has joined the law firm of Jennis the party to file a formal motion and be heard on the Bowen & Brundage, P.L. matters in dispute.” Submissions to People on the Go may be Make the request for a telephone conference by emailed to [email protected] contacting the courtroom deputy for the judge assigned to the case. President’s Message Second, the Clerk’s office has added a second paragraph continued from p. 1 to and changed the title of a notice to now read “Notice of Requirement to File Statement of Completion of Course in Personal Financial Management and File a Certificate Bar Foundation grant. C.A.R.E. committee members Regarding Domestic Support Obligation,” which will be will make presentations to high school and college entered in all Chapter 13 cases. students with the goal of educating them on the realities – good and bad – of consumer credit. In order for a debtor to comply with 11 U.S.C. section 1328(a), the Notice directs that if the debtor is required One of our goals this year is to improve our by judicial or administrative order, or by statute, to pay communications with you. We email members a domestic support obligation, file a Certificate that all with notices of meetings and seminars and are amounts payable under such order or such statute that constantly working to improve our website, are due on or before the date of the certification (including www.brokenbench.org. amounts due before the petition was filed, but only to the extent provided for by the plan) have been paid or file a We are off to a busy year! If you have any suggestions Certificate stating that the debtor is not required to pay a or ideas about improving the way the Association domestic support obligation. can better serve you, please let me know. Please note that failure to file the Certification of Completion of Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management and the Certificate regarding The Cramdown 3 Topics include ethics and recent developments; Stetson Hosts 32nd Annual dischargeability, sovereign immunity and litigation issues; Chapter 11 cases and small business Bankruptcy Law & Practice cases; exceptions and extensions to the automatic Seminar stay; domestic support obligations; litigation issues; adequate protection payments; trustee’s voiding powers and case administration.