host posted on December 22, 2011 09:52
The NACBA membership has filed an amicus brief in the case of Berliner v. Pappalardo (In re Puffer), No. 11-1831 (1st Cir.), arguing against the imposition of a bright line rule prohibiting attorney-fee-only chapter 13 cases as being filed in bad faith. The brief emphasizes that bad faith is necessarily a case-by-case, fact specific inquiry, and that there exist legitimate, good faith, reasons for seeking chapter 13 relief solely to make payments toward attorney fees and administrative costs. Because debtors eligible for chapter 7 relief frequently cannot afford to pay the attorney fees to file their cases, chapter 13 presents a viable alternative and nothing in the Code prohibits such filing. NACBA member David Baker filed the brief on NACBA’s behalf.
Brief