Rule 9006 Creates Trap for Date-Specific Deadlines

A debtor was liberated from an objection to discharge where the deadline was extended to January 15, 2018, which was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the objection was not filed until the next day.    Smart-Fill Management Group, Inc. v. Froiland (In re Froiland), 18-1006 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. 7/6/18).    While most practitioners are familiar with the rule which extends deadlines that fall on a Saturday, Sunday or national holiday, there is an important caveat:  the rule only applies to deadlines stated in days or a longer unit of time.   Where a deadline is set for a date certain, there is no extension.

How Would Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Approach Bankruptcy?

President Donald Trump has selected D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be his second Supreme Court nominee.    A post describing his bankruptcy opinions would be very short.  I could find only one opinion authored by Judge Kavanaugh arising out of bankruptcy court and that case dealt with equitable subrogation under the laws of the District of Columbia.   Smith v. First American Title Ins. Co. (In re Stevenson), 789 F.3d 197 (D.C. Cir. 2015). This is not surprising given the D.C. Circuit's footprint.   The D.C. Circuit has one bankruptcy court with one bankruptcy judge.  By contrast, the Fifth Circuit has nine districts staffed by 26 judges.