Monday, January 26, 2004

Supreme Court rules in John Lamie attorney's fee case

In Lamie v. U.S. Trustee, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the bankruptcy court and district court of W.D. Va. and the Fourth Circuit were correct in ruling against Abingdon attorney John Lamie on an issue regarding fees for counsel representing Chapter 7 debtors. The villain in the case was Congress, which apparently in recodifying the law regarding fees for professional services dropped the ball and left out critical language in the code section at issue, 11 U.S.C. 330(a).

Interesting, there was a concurring opinion by Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Souter and Breyer, which says that the "plain meaning" rule should not be so harshly construed as to preclude reference to the legislative history in such a case.

No comments: