Bankruptcy Lawyer Georgia
Q.I had sued a deadbeat client for breach of contract . Last week I got a call from his attorney informing me the deadbeat had filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I had never received formal or informal notification of the Bankruptcy and in fact had no knowledge of it until the attorney called.Not from the Court, the Trustee or this attorney.He informed me a Discharge under Chapter 7 had been granted that very day. He demanded I dismiss my lawsuit immediately or I would be in violation of the Stay and subject to substantial penalties. I will be willing to Continue or Postpone my trial date AFTER I get all information requested by me. Realizing that as an unsecured creditor I'll probably wind up with zilch do Any advice for me???
A.This is for discussion purposes only, and is not legal advice. I'm not a lawyer. If you want legal advice, hire a lawyer. Well, bankruptcy _does_ place an automatic stay on all pending actions. But AFAIK that only prevents them from going forward (discovery, depositions, motions, trial, judgement, etc.). But from what you say, the bankruptcy is now completed and the debtor has received a discharge. If your claim had been extinguished by the discharge, then there might be sanctions for continuing the action over a debt that no longer exists. However, one of the rules is that creditors must be listed on the bankruptcy forms; they are then notified by the bankruptcy referee and given the opportunity to file their claim and/or appear at the "meeting of creditors". Then they get a share of whatever assets are available after satisfying "senior" claims -- usually in the following order: 1. secured debts, to the extent they can be satisfied by the security 2. taxes 3. wages/salaries due to employees If you were truly not listed on the bankruptcy, then ISTM that your debt was not discharged in the bankruptcy. That would mean that you could now proceed with your lawsuit, regardless of what the debtor's attorney says. There's one other possibility to consider: that you _were_ listed as a creditor on the bankruptcy papers, but the referee neglected to notify you about the "meeting of creditors" etc. I'm sure you have _some_ remedy in that case, but I'm not sure what it is -- whether your debt ends up surviving the bankruptcy, or whether you have to petition the referee for your "share" of the distribution of assets. I think you did the right thing by demanding to see a copy of the bankruptcy petition, lists of assets and debts, etc. And if the amount you are owed is substantial, I think it would be a good idea to invest $200-300 in a quick consultation with an attorney to see what your options are. It's even possible you might get a free initial consult if you are considering hiring the attorney to pursue further legal action. Remember that attorneys are not above lying (to people other than their client) about what the law says or means. AFAIK this is not banned by the Bar Association's canons of ethics.
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