Court Opinion

ID: 9702320
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:06:47.308371+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:36.543909
License: Public Domain

PAT E. MORGENSTERN-CLARREN, Bankruptcy Appellate Panel Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the Panel’s decision for the reasons stated by Judge Thomas in In re Century Cleaning Servs., Inc., 195 F.3d 1053 (9th Cir.1999) (Thomas, J., dissenting). As Judge Thomas summarized: “The majority may well have identified the best policy for compensating debtors’ attorneys in Chapter 7 cases, but it is not the policy choice that Congress made ... [B]oth the plain language of the statute and its legislative history leave no doubt that Congress meant what it said ...” when it deleted the statutory language authorizing payment to debtors’ counsel from the Chapter 7 estate. Id. at 1061. Accordingly, I would reverse the decision of the bankruptcy court based on Judge Thomas’ reasoning and find that debtors’ counsel may not be awarded compensation from these estates.