Bess M. Parrish Creswell

How Judge Creswell rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama
Position
bankruptcy
Appointed by
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Commissioned
2018-04-16
Education
Campbell University, B.B.A., 2001; Campbell University, M.B.A., 2001; Wake Forest University School of Law, J.D., 2004
Signed orders read
6

How Judge Creswell decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

A Chapter 13 debtor bears the burden of showing good faith in both the petition and the proposed plan.

“Debtor must show that ‘the plan has been proposed in good faith’ and that ‘filing the petition was in good faith.’”

A request for a broad bankruptcy examination will not be used to bypass discovery limits in already-pending litigation.

“the Rule 2004 Request is not a proper use of Rule 2004 discovery; instead, it represents an effort to circumvent the discovery rules of the State Court Litigation.”

Cautions

Equitable concerns do not permit departure from a specific eligibility rule in the Bankruptcy Code.

“The Court cannot ‘contravene specific statutory provisions,’ and must balance the equities in cases ‘within the confines of the Bankruptcy Code.’”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

In re Richard Devaughan
1:23-bk-10150 · 2023-07-05
Objection to plan confirmation (creditor Bonita Dennard) Granted

“ORDERED that Creditor’s objection to confirmation is SUSTAINED. Accordingly, confirmation of Debtor’s plan is denied, and his case is DISMISSED.”

In re Levarus Vashaun Holmes
2:23-bk-30551 · 2023-09-11
Motion to dismiss bankruptcy case (U.S. Bank National Association) Granted

“Creditor’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 33) is GRANTED, and Debtor’s Chapter 13 case is DISMISSED pursuant to § 109(g)(2).”

In re Gregory Mayo
1:21-bk-10156 · 2021-09-30
Objection to plan confirmation (TitleMax of Alabama, Inc.) Granted

“TitleMax’s objection to confirmation (Doc. 20) of Debtor’s case is sustained”

Motion to confirm automatic stay not in place (TitleMax of Alabama, Inc.) Granted

“the motion (Doc. 21) confirming that the stay is not in place is granted”

In re Shelly H. Moseley
3:24-bk-81498 · 2025-07-22
Rule 2004 examination request (creditor Johnny Ray Jenkins) Denied

“ORDERED that the Rule 2004 Request is DENIED.”

In re Jon Raiford
3:20-bk-80560 · 2024-12-05
Motion for chapter 13 discharge (debtor Jon Raiford) Granted

“ORDERED that Debtor’s Motion for Discharge is GRANTED.”

Semantha Santangelo v. Richard Clarvit and Lilas Ayundeh
3:22-ap-08002 · 2022-08-04
Summary judgment (defendants Richard Clarvit and Lilas Ayundeh) Granted

“Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED and Plaintiff’s Complaint is DISMISSED with prejudice.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The nine terminated sampled matters lasted 372 to 785 days, with a median of 504 days. Two newly filed pending matters were included to preserve a current boundary; they had not matured to a groundable outcome.

Draft for Judge Creswell with the record in hand

Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Creswell, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.

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