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Local Written Opinions

The Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan offers a database of opinions for the years 1999 to present, listed by year and judge. For a more detailed search, enter the keyword or case number in the search box above.

Judge James D. Gregg

W.D. Mich. 2006) (because the debtor there had the ability to amend his entireties property exemption so as to exempt the same Michigan real property under a non- bankruptcy specific Michigan exemption statute). Because Michigan passed bankruptcy specific exemptions without authority to do so, those exception statutes are unconstitutional.12 B. May Congress Adopt Non-Uniform Bankruptcy Laws? For this reason, all bankruptcy acts enacted by Congress have contained involuntary bankruptcy ...

Finally, the Toyobo Defendants contend that the Nij Advisory Notices should be excluded from evidence because the prejudice to Toyobo outweighs the Advisory Notices probative value under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. During the fourth day of trial, the Toyobo Defendants bench filed a brief in support of their Motion to Bar Evidence of Zkp Development under Federal Rule of Evidence 407 ( Rule 407"). The Toyobo Defendants allege that to do otherwise violates the best evidence rule, Federal...

Because there was no evidence that Second Chance had ever used fabric containing red yarn in the manufacture of its bullet resistant vests, Toyobo s motion asserted that evidence relating to red yarn was irrelevant and should be excluded by the court. Although the order denied the Toyobo Defendants request to exclude red yarn evidence in its entirety, the order provided that before the Trustee can introduce testimony regarding Red Yarn, the Trustee must make a factual showing that Toyobo ...

Chief Judge Scott W. Dales

By her own admission, the Defendant knew the Plaintiff expected her and Mr. Stansell to list the Plaintiff as a lien holder on the Caravan. Mot S.J., Exh. G). Ignoring Plaintiff s statements and its asserted interest in the Caravan, the Defendant never contacted the Plaintiff to set up a time, but instead promptly advertised the Caravan for sale in the newspaper (John s Dep. In other words, if in fact the court concludes the Plaintiff had a superior interest in the Caravan, then the ...

Supplemental Opinion Regarding Motions And Claim Of Hockney & Associates On January 5, 2009, the court heard argument on two motions filed by Glenn Hockney, purportedly as agent of Hockney & Associates, on October 23, 2009. For convenience, the court will refer to the Natural Person Motion and the Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion as the Motions. Although expressing doubt about Mr. Hockney s ability to speak for Hockney & Associates, the court listened to...

Collateral Estoppel The Shers argue that under Hawaiian law, after an arbitration award has matured into a final judgment entered by a circuit court, the judgment would be entitled to be treated in all respects as any other judgment and accorded full faith and credit in this court. 2000) ( [i]n light of the strong federal policy in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements, courts only have a limited role in reviewing arbitration awards as authorized by the [Federal Arbitration Act] ). ...

Supplemental Opinion Regarding Motions And Claim Of Hockney & Associates On January 5, 2009, the court heard argument on two motions filed by Glenn Hockney, purportedly as agent of Hockney & Associates, on October 23, 2009. For convenience, the court will refer to the Natural Person Motion and the Involuntary Bankruptcy Motion as the Motions. Although expressing doubt about Mr. Hockney s ability to speak for Hockney & Associates, the court listened to...

Order Granting Debtor S Motion For Summary Judgment And Denying Creditor S Motion To Dismiss Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge The Estate of Jennifer Malley, Deceased (the Malley Estate or Creditor ), filed a motion to dismiss this bankruptcy case pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 707(a) (the Motion to Dismiss, Dn 19), and Debtor Marshall C. Hudson ( Mr. Hudson or the Debtor ) filed his opposition. See Estate of Jennifer Malley, ...

Opinion And Order Regarding Service Of Complaint Present: Honorable Scott W. Dales United States Bankruptcy Judge Plaintiff David Galloway ( Plaintiff or Mr. Galloway ) attempted to serve DebtorDefendant Kathleen Ries ( Debtor or Ms. Ries ) with a summons and complaint, but experienced difficulty effecting service. Therefore, it appears the Plaintiff has satisfied Rule 7004(b)(9). Because the Debtor retained counsel, however, Rule 7004(g) also required ...

The Exemption Of The Debtor S Residence The statute upon which the Debtor relies to exempt the Residence provides in relevant part as follows: If the owner of a homestead dies, leaving a surviving spouse but no children, the surviving spouse before his or her remarriage, unless the surviving spouse is the owner of a homestead in his or her own right, may exempt the homestead and the rents and profits of the homestead. Instead, the statute can make sense if the court varnishes the exception ...

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