Michael D. Mueller, Esquire (VSB No. 38216) 

Jennifer M. McLemore, Esquire (VSB No. 47164) 

Bennett T. W. Eastham, Esquire (VSB No. 93484) 

WILLIAMS MULLEN

200 South 10th Street, Suite 1600 

Richmond, Virginia 23219 

Telephone: (804) 420-6000 

Facsimile: (804) 420-6507 

Email: mmueller@williamsmullen.com 

jmclemore@williamsmullen.com 

beastham@williamsmullen.com 

Attorneys for Heritage Trail Solar, LLC

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA 

RICHMOND DIVISION 

) 

In re: ) Chapter 11 

) 

LEWIS E. WILKERSON, JR., ) Case No. 20-34576-KLP 

) 

 Debtor. ) 

)

MOTION TO CONTINUE HEARING 

ON SWIFT FINANCIAL, LLC’S MOTION TO CONVERT 

COMES NOW, Heritage Trail Solar, LLC (“Heritage Trail”), a Virginia limited liability 

company, wholly owned by Diode Ventures, LLC, a Kansas Limited Liability Company, by and 

through its undersigned counsel, and moves this Court to continue (the “Motion to Continue”) the 

hearing scheduled by Swift Financial, LLC (“Swift”) on its Motion to Convert [Docket No. 242] 

(the “Motion to Convert”), which hearing was scheduled by Swift, without consultation of counsel, 

for November 22, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Heritage Trail files its Motion to Continue to 

ask the Court to reschedule the currently scheduled hearing on the Motion to Convert to a future 

date where Heritage Trail and the Debtor will have time and availability to present evidence and 

argument in response to Swift’s Motion to Convert, and specifically, to allow the professionals at 

Heritage Trail to have the time and opportunity to fly to Richmond to testify about the status of 
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the Option Contract1 between the Debtor and Heritage Trail, which appears to be, in part, the 

subject of Swift’s Motion to Convert. 

I. RELEVANT BACKGROUND 

1. On November 17, 2020 (the “Petition Date”), the Debtor filed a voluntary petition 

for relief under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). 

2. On June 9, 2022, the Court entered an order [Docket No. 234] confirming the 

Debtor’s Plan of Reorganization [Docket No. 197] (the “Confirmed Plan”). 

3. On October 12, 2022, Swift filed its Motion to Convert, setting the matter for 

hearing on November 22, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. 

4. The Confirmed Plan’s success is contingent upon the outcome of the Option 

Contract between Heritage Trail and the Debtor, including any amendments thereto. Heritage 

Trail believes the support that its professionals can provide to both the Court and to Swift in 

response to the Motion to Convert will be meaningful, the testimony will be information that only 

the Heritage Trail team has, and the evidence will provide Swift with current guidance regarding 

the outcome that general unsecured creditors can expect under the Confirmed Plan if Heritage Trail 

exercises its option under the Option Contract. Heritage Trail supports the Confirmed Plan, and, 

in turn, Mr. Wilkerson. The witnesses from Heritage Trail are not available on November 22, 2022, 

at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and hereby ask for a continuance of the hearing on the Motion to 

Convert. 

II. RELEVANT AUTHORITY 

5. 11 U.S.C. § 1112(b)(3) requires: 

(3) The court shall commence the hearing on a motion under this 

subsection not later than 30 days after filing of the motion, and shall 

1

 As defined in the Confirmed Plan (defined below). 
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decide the motion not later than 15 days after commencement of such 

hearing, unless the movant expressly consents to a continuance for a 

specific period of time or compelling circumstances prevent the court 

from meeting the time limits established by this paragraph. 

Id. (emphasis added). 

6. Richmond General Order 22-2, in relevant part, requires: 

Hearings Non-Evidentiary. All counsel are encouraged to make liberal use 

of the Court’s negative notice procedures. All self-scheduled hearings 

shall be treated as nonevidentiary hearings. To schedule an evidentiary 

hearing, the parties must contact the hearing judge’s courtroom deputy. 

Id. (emphasis added). 

III. ARGUMENT 

7. Without consent of the movant, Section 1112(b)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code 

requires motions to convert a bankruptcy case to be heard within thirty days from the filing. Here, 

Swift set its Motion to Convert for hearing on a date beyond the thirty-day requirement of Section 

1112(b)(3). Heritage Trail asserts that Swift’s scheduling of its own Motion to Convert can be 

treated by this Court as consent to the setting of a hearing on the Motion to Convery beyond the 

thirty-day requirement of Section 1112(b)(3). A further continuance to a date and time where 

fulsome evidence can be presented should be welcomed by Swift. 

8. However, despite a request for a consensual continuance from Heritage Trail, on 

its own behalf and on behalf of the Debtor, Swift has not yet authorized moving the hearing from 

a general motions’ day to a time where the parties would have time to present testimony and make 

argument on the Motion to Convert. 

9. Further, upon information and belief, counsel for Swift did not consult the Court’s 

clerk for a special hour. Accordingly, this Court’s General Order 22-2 suggests that the hearing 

scheduled for November 22, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time can only be treated as a “nonevidentiary” hearing. 
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10. Finally, the experts at Heritage Trail, those with all of the knowledge and 

background on the Option Contract, have an extensive number of real estate closings between now 

and the end of the calendar year, making travel to the currently scheduled hearing on the Motion 

to Convert impossible. 

11. While a delay of the hearing on the Motion to Convert is sought due to logistical 

matters, Heritage Trail would be pleased to consult with Swift to explain the status of the Option 

Contract and answer any other questions that Swift has about the Option Contract or Confirmed 

Plan, to the extent that knowledge resides with Heritage Trail. Upon information and belief, 

counsel for the Debtor would be pleased to provide the same access to the Debtor for Swift. 

12. Heritage Trail has obtained the following dates from the Court for a hearing on the 

Motion to Convert, which are dates on which the witnesses from Heritage Trail are available as 

well as counsel for the Debtor and the Debtor himself: January 11, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern 

Time and January 18, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Counsel for Heritage Trail is unaware of 

Swift’s and Swift’s counsel’s availability on such dates and times. 

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, Heritage Trail Solar, LLC asks that this Court 

continue the scheduled hearing on the Motion to Convert from November 22, 2022, at 9:30 a.m. 

Eastern Time to either January 11, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time or January 18, 2023, at 

10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, both of which are dates and times that the Debtor and the Heritage Trail 

Solar, LLC witnesses are available to testify and answer questions about the Option Contract and 
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Confirmed Plan, and for such other and further relief as may be just and proper under the 

circumstances. 

Dated: November 9, 2022 /s/ Jennifer M. McLemore 

 Michael D. Mueller, Esquire 

 Jennifer M. McLemore, Esquire 

Bennett T. W. Eastham, Esquire 

WILLIAMS MULLEN

200 South 10th Street, Suite 1600 

Richmond, Virginia 23219 

Telephone: (804) 420-6000 

Facsimile: (804) 420-6507 

Email: mmueller@williamsmullen.com 

jmclemore@williamsmullen.com 

beastham@williamsmullen.com 

Counsel for Heritage Trail Solar, LLC 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

 The undersigned hereby certifies that on this 9th day of November 2022, I caused a copy 

of the foregoing to be served through the Court’s EM/ECF system on all parties receiving notices 

in these cases. I also caused a copy of the foregoing to be served by email on counsel for Swift 

Financial, LLC, counsel for the Debtor, and the Office of the US Trustee. 

 /s/ Jennifer M. McLemore 

 Jennifer M. McLemore 

101538505