9th Circuit Allows an Employee to Pursue Discrimination Action In a noteworthy departure from the rulings of other federal circuit courts, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave a county employee the green light to sue her employer for discrimination, even though she originally failed to disclose the lawsuit in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.…

Many of us dream of living the life of the rich and famous. With all that money, what problems could we possibly have? Well, one look at the tabloid magazines will tell us a different story, but for those of us facing mounting debt, trading in our money problems for tabloid problems might not sound…

In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court held in U.S. v. Windsor, that the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA as it is commonly referred to, is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Under the Defense of Marriage Act, marriage was defined for all federal purposes as the…

I recently did a blog about discharging student loans in bankruptcy. In that blog, I noted a 9th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel decision in which one of the Panel Judge’s called on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to come up with a more workable legal standard for discharging student loans in bankruptcy. Specifically, the…

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case of In Re Gebhart illustrates just how high the stakes can be in bankruptcy and why it is so important that you have experienced bankruptcy counsel representing you. As an experienced Oakland bankruptcy attorney, the case of In re Gebhart is one I take very seriously. The Gebhart…

As a Bay Area bankruptcy attorney, one of the most frustrating aspects of my job is being unable to help debtors discharge their student loans. As many people with huge student loan debt already know, the 2005 change to the bankruptcy code, coupled with court decisions, have made it nearly impossible for someone to discharge…

In what can only be described as frustrating for Bankruptcy Judges, the Ninth Circuit recently expanded the limitations on bankruptcy judge’s ability to enter final judgments in certain situations. Taking their cue from the Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, which held that bankruptcy courts lack certain Constitutional authority to make a final decision…

For many people who end up filing for bankruptcy, living off of credit cards had become a necessary way of life. In order to make ends meet, keep a roof over their heads, and feed their families, many would-be bankruptcy filers use credit to meet their daily needs. After living like this for years and…

Many Credit Reports Contain Costly Errors One of the most common effects of living with the constant stress of too much debt is the eventual inability to even deal with one’s financial situation. As a bankruptcy attorney, I have talked to and counseled countless clients who have told me that after a certain point they…

Every day there is more and more talk about how the economy is on the path to recovery. The recession is over and good times are ahead. This is great news, except that for the typical American worker, the future is not so bright. The truth is that while the DOW is at an all-time…