Attorney Bruce Laurence Weiner's Legal Cases

Bankruptcy and debt

Bruce Weiner Successfully Defends Creditor In Another Complicated Bankruptcy Proceeding

Oct 10, 2014

OUTCOME: Successfully Defended Creditor

Bankruptcy attorney Bruce Weiner successfully won yet another “complex” case involving claims and counterclaims. The case was cited in Bankruptcy Reporter: In re Merhi, 518 B.R. 705 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 20 ... 14) His client, the creditor, sold a house to the debtor with a balloon mortgage. When it came time to pay, the debtor couldn’t come up with the money. The creditor started a foreclosure action, got a judgment and scheduled a sale of the property. The debtor requested and was granted a series of extensions, but never made good on them. Meanwhile the debtor filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to keep the property. However, the debtor was unable to satisfy the requirements of a chapter 13 filing. In addition, the debtor claimed that the creditor acted illegally. Mr. Weiner defended the alleged illegal actions and proved that the debtor did not have the ability to repay the mortgage according to the plan he laid out. As a result the judge denied the debtor’s Chapter 13 petition and claims against the creditor. The creditor can now reschedule the sale and hopefully recoup what was owed by the debtor.

Bankruptcy and debt

US Court of Appeals Complex Bankruptcy Case Affirmed

Jul 25, 2014

OUTCOME: Successfully Affirmed

In a complex bankruptcy case, New York bankruptcy attorney Bruce Weiner successfully won another appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit: In re Alexander Kran, III on July 25th, 2014, whi ... ch has been reported at 2014 WL 3685939. The case was written up in both the New York Law Journal and on the website Law 360. Our client, the defendant, was a lawyer who had entered into a business arrangement with another attorney. The other attorney was to advertise for new cases, do some initial intake and then pass the cases along to the debtor to handle the bulk of the matters. According to their arrangement, part of the fee would be given back to the initial attorney once the case was completed. When the defendant failed to pay the referral fees owed, the attorney who originally brought in the business sued him. After the defendant Kran, failed to produce documents requested by the other attorney, which documents might have helped prove the amount of closed business that resulted from the arrangement, the state court struck defendant’s answer. The case was eventually settled for a judgment of $1.4 million. When Kran couldn’t pay back the agreed upon amount, he filed for bankruptcy. The creditor objected to the bankruptcy on the grounds that the debtor didn’t keep proper books and records to prove his financial condition in the original lawsuit. Mr. Weiner, representing the defendant/debtor, countered this claim, stating that this wasn’t relevant, because the debtor was able to prove his financial condition at the time he filed in bankruptcy court. Mr. Weiner filed a summary judgment on behalf of the debtor to dismiss the claim, and the bankruptcy court granted his request. The creditor subsequently filed an appeal, but the original decision was upheld by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and now upheld again by the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. In the decision, Circuit Court Judge Robert Sack stated: “We agree with bankruptcy court that the inquiry into the debtor’s financial condition is limited to the span from a reasonable period of time before the bankruptcy filing through the pendency of the bankruptcy proceedings…We further conclude that Berger has not met his burden to show that the missing records were necessary to ascertain Kran’s financial condition during this temporally limited period.”

Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Musso vs. Ostashko

Nov 06, 2006

OUTCOME: Successfully won and recovered assets for trustee

This case was successfully argued before the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. It involved the complicated interplay between divorce and bankruptcy. On appeal, Mr. Weiner successfully proved ... the assets belonged to the bankruptcy trustee, not to the spouse who had been awarded them by the state court.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy

In re Fischer

Jan 01, 2002

OUTCOME: Successful, trustee prevailed

Successfully argued before the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit: Mr. Weiner successfully represented a Chapter 7 Trustee in a case involving multiple parcels of real estate and complex issues.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Caesar's Palace

Dec 28, 2001

OUTCOME: $200,000 gambling debt bankruptcy discharge, attorneys awarded $160,000 for casinoâ€™s willful stay violation

A debtorâ€™s obligation to repay $200,000 in markers owed to Caesars Palace was not excepted from discharge under Section 523(a)(2)(A). Making matters worse for the casino, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court o ... f Appeals agreed with the lower courts that the referral of the markers to the bad check collections unit of the Las Vegas District Attorneyâ€™s Office after the debtor filed for bankruptcy was a willful violation of the automatic stay.

Bruce Laurence Weiner's Legal Cases (5)

Bruce Weiner Successfully Defends Creditor In Another Complicated Bankruptcy Proceeding

US Court of Appeals Complex Bankruptcy Case Affirmed

Musso vs. Ostashko

In re Fischer

Caesar's Palace