J. Ellsworth Summers, Jr.

J. Ellsworth Summers, Jr.

Rogers Towers


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Rogers Towers: Garnishing Professional Fees After Close of Bankruptcy Proceeding

It is not an uncommon practice for commercial lenders or real estate owners to employ a broker to assist with the sale of property for a commission. Recently, a corporation owning a marina in South Florida filed for Chapter...more

6/13/2013 - Broker Commissions Brokers Disgorgement Fees Garnishment Jurisdiction

Rogers Towers: Caveat Creditor: Courts Split Regarding Abrogation of Absolute Priority Rule for Individual Chapter 11 Debtors

Although the 2005 BAPCPA amendments appeared to be a boon for creditors, at least with respect to Chapter 7 claims, individual Chapter 11 debtors immediately seized upon a perceived ambiguity in Congress’ language with...more

6/11/2013 - Abrogation Absolute Priority Rule BAPCPA Chapter 11 Debtors Statutory Interpretation

Rogers Towers: Lack of Permanent Visa May Preclude Invocation of Florida Homestead Exemption

Creditors often find themselves at the crossroads of multiple disciplines of law, such as the intersection of bankruptcy and tort law. Less commonly, however, creditors may find themselves at the intersection of bankruptcy...more

5/30/2013 - Creditors Debtors Homestead Exemption Permanent Residence Cards Visas

Rogers Towers: What can Twinkies and Beer Teach Investors about Purchasing the Assets of an Insolvent Corporation?

When Hostess announced last November that it would be shutting the doors to its factories, spooked by the news and likely addled by decades of cream filling, hoarders of Ho-Ho’s scurried to buy every brand name snack cake...more

5/9/2013 - 363 Sales Asset Purchaser Hostess Insolvency

Rogers Towers: A Lesson from the Lumber Yard: Middle District of Florida Raises Particularity Requirement for Trustee Standing in...

One of the primary roles of a Chapter 7 trustee is to ensure that the bankruptcy estate is preserved prior to liquidation. It is no wonder, then, that the Trustee’s avoidance powers are well defined by the Bankruptcy Code....more

5/7/2013 - Anti-Avoidance Chapter 11 Chapter 7 Trustees

Rogers Towers: Debts Non-Dischargeable When Use of Proceeds Intentionally Misrepresented

When an individual obtains a loan with no intention of repaying the lender, it is well established that such a debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. If, however, a debtor does not misrepresent its intent to repay the...more

4/16/2013 - Debt Dischargeable Debts Fraud Intent Lenders Misrepresentation

Rogers Towers: A Potential End-Around McNeal: Liens Partially Secured by Personal Property

When the time comes to collect a debt, few organizations are as accomplished as the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS showed just such guile in the case of In re Williams, a recent Chapter 7 proceeding in the Middle District...more

4/4/2013 - Chapter 7 In re McNeal IRS Personal Property Tax Liens

Rogers Towers: Let the Stripping Begin: Lower Courts in the Eleventh Circuit Cautiously Embrace McNeal

It was only a matter of time before judges in the lower courts of the Eleventh Circuit began to accept the appellate court’s decision in McNeal. Two such opinions have recently been published in the Middle Districts of...more

3/28/2013 - In re McNeal Liens

Rogers Towers: In re Davenport: The Eleventh Circuit sets Minimal Standards for Creditor Reliance in Fraud Case

The Bankruptcy Code protects lenders which reasonably rely upon a debtor’s financial statements when approving a loan. The Eleventh Circuit was recently faced with an “enterprising” debtor who attempted to challenge the...more

3/26/2013 - Debtors Falsified Documents Fraud

Rogers Towers: In re Sundale, Ltd.: Bankruptcy Court May Have Final Say in Certain State-law Counterclaims

As we have discussed in previous posts, the Supreme Court has held that not all counterclaims which arise within the context of a bankruptcy case are “core” proceedings, such that the bankruptcy court may make a final and...more

3/19/2013 - Counterclaims Creditors Debtors Jurisdiction SCOTUS

Rogers Towers: Surcharge of Debtor’s Exempt Assets Allowed when Debtor Willfully Conceals Non-Exempt Assets

Concealing assets from the Bankruptcy Court rarely, if ever, turns out well for a debtor. In a recent First Circuit case, a debtor concealed proceeds from prepetition sale of his former marital home, claiming that all of the...more

2/26/2013 - Bankrtupcy Surcharges Debtors Exempt Assets Non-Exempt Assets Willful Concealment

Rogers Towers: Insiders as Equity Investors: Competition Protects Lenders from Absolute Priority Rule Circumvention

Under the absolute-priority rule, unpaid creditors normally receive the equity in a reorganized business. If a plan of reorganization proposes a “new value” investment in exchange for equity, however, the rule does not...more

2/19/2013 - Absolute Priority Rule Chapter 11 Competitive Bidding Creditors Debtors Equity Investors In re Castleton Plaza New Value Plans Reorganizations

Rogers Towers: Forward Contracts for Commodities not Avoidable as Preferential Transfers

Because debtors may avoid certain transfers and contracts entered into during the ninety days before they filed their bankruptcy petition, trade creditors are understandably nervous about entering into contracts with...more

2/12/2013 - Broker-Dealer Commodities Forward Contracts Insolvency Safe Harbors Securities

Rogers Towers: Denial of Discretion: Eleventh Circuit Lacks Jurisdiction to Hear Bankruptcy Appeal

Even one year removed from the Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, which challenged the jurisdiction of a lower bankruptcy court, many practitioners and lenders alike are still left with unanswered questions...more

2/7/2013 - Celotex Commercial Bankruptcy Complex Litigation Jurisdiction

Roger Towers: Though not Precedent, McNeal Proves Persuasive in Southern District of Florida

Mortgage modification has long been an angst-ridden topic for consumer creditors. The issue once again rose to the forefront in May of 2012, when the Eleventh Circuit issued the unpublished opinion of In re McNeal, wherein...more

1/24/2013 - Appraisal Chapter 7 Mortgages Split of Authority Strip-Offs

Rogers Towers: A Troubling Interpretation: Prepetition Foreclosures as Preferential Transfers under § 547

As stated in Doug Waldorf’s post below, the concept of property valuation in regards to a deficiency judgment is well established within the Eleventh Circuit. The fair market value of the property is established at the...more

1/8/2013 - Fair Market Value Foreclosure Fraudulent Transfers Preferential Transfers

Formal Objection to Confirmation not Necessary to Appeal “Absolute Priority” Violation

Cramdown. The very word makes the hair on the back of lenders’ necks stand up, because in the past, there was little a lender could do once the bankruptcy court confirmed a Chapter 11 plan....more

12/11/2012 - Absolute Priority Rule Chapter 11 Cramdown

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