The National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center (NCBRC), joined by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), has filed an amicus curiae brief in Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Construction, Inc., a case now before the United States Supreme Court that could significantly reshape how judicial estoppel is applied in consumer bankruptcy cases. The Court is being asked to decide whether debtors may be barred from pursuing otherwise valid claims based on rigid, punitive presumptions of bad faith—rather than an equitable, fact-specific inquiry—when a claim was not disclosed during a Chapter 13 case.
For debtor’s counsel, the stakes are high: the Court’s decision may determine whether honest mistakes or unsettled disclosure rules can be transformed into case-ending sanctions that benefit civil defendants at the expense of both debtors and creditors.
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