Tabb Discusses Discharging Fraudulent Debts Not in Writing

Of Counsel Charles Tabb was quoted in a Bloomberg Big Law Business article, “Justices Weigh Bankruptcy Fallout of Unkept Pledge to Pay Lawyers,” about the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision in Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling, about the dischargeability of a debt incurred by false statements “respecting,” or reflecting, their financial condition.

Tabb said that justices can rely on a “plain meaning reading of ‘respecting’ and conclude that even a statement about less than the debtor’s overall financial condition is still ‘respecting’ that condition.”

Tabb also said that the U.S. government – the largest creditor in the case – affirming the decision is “telling,” adding that the court in recent years has shown a “strong disinclination to interpret the Bankruptcy Code in a way that could favor dishonest debtors,” and Appling is “most definitely not a sympathetic ‘honest but unfortunate’ debtor.”