Margaret A. Mahoney

How Judge Mahoney rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Mahoney no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Retired 2015
Served
1993–2015
Commissioned
1993-01-01
Signed orders read
16

How Judge Mahoney decides

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

Procedural preferences

Once confirmed, clear plan language controlled the trustee's distribution sequence even when the confirmation order contained a mistaken heading.

“Once a chapter 13 plan is confirmed, the language of the plan controls, as long as the plan is unambiguous.”

Cautions

A proposed class representative needed a basic grasp of the facts, not mastery of complex terminology or litigation strategy.

“a class representative is not required to understand the meaning of complex legal terms or to direct litigation strategies. A representative should ... have some awareness of the basic facts underlying a suit.”

Signed rulings

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

In re Tillery Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
· 2004-11-03
Motion to direct tax payment designation (Michael and Kathy Tillery) Denied

“THEREFORE it is ORDERED that the Tillerys’ motion for order directing trustee to specify all disbursements to the IRS to be applied to the trustee’s portion of withholding taxes is DENIED.”

Caffey v. Russell (In re Caffey)
· 2008-01-28
Adversary complaint for stay injunction and damages (debtor Jason Andre Caffey) Granted

“Plaintiff, Jason Andre Caffey, is awarded a judgment against Defendants, Karen Russell, in the amount of $40,000.”

In re Pigott
· 2005-08-05
Government objection to exemption (United States) Granted

“THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that the objection of the United States to the Pigotts claim of exemption of their 2004 federal income tax refund is SUSTAINED and the exemption is disallowed in its entirety to the extent of the United States rights under 11 U.S.C. § 553 and 26 U.S.C. § 6402.”

In re Aldridge
· 2005-11-16
Motion for instructions (Marengo County Department of Human Resources) Granted

“The motion for instructions is GRANTED;”

Powe v. Chrysler Financial Corp. (In re Powe)
· 2001-07-27

This substantive order defined a previously certified class and is retained for reasoning context rather than motion statistics.

Noletto v. NationsBanc Mortgage Corp. (In re Noletto)
· 2001-07-25
Summary judgment (NationsBanc Mortgage Corporation) Granted in part

“The Motion of NationsBanc Mortgage Corporation for summary judgment is DENIED except that it is GRANTED as to inspection fees only.”

Class certification (plaintiffs) Granted

“The Motion for class certification of a Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7023(b)(2) class is GRANTED.”

Noletto v. NationsBanc Mortgage Corp. (In re Noletto)
· 2000-02-15
Motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (defendants) Denied

“IT IS ORDERED that the defendants’ motions to dismiss these proceedings for lack of subject matter jurisdiction are DENIED and the remaining issues will be carried for further consideration at a later date to be set by the Court;”

Trustmark National Bank v. Curtis (In re Curtis)
· 1995-02-07
Complaint to determine dischargeability (Trustmark National Bank) Denied

“Therefore, the relief requested by Trust-mark pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) is DENIED.”

In re Slepian
· 1994-08-19
Trustee objection to exemptions (Chapter 7 trustee) Granted in part

“For the reasons indicated below, the objections by the Trustee are denied as to the retirement plan and sustained as to the IRA.”

Huff v. Brooks (In re Brooks)
· 1994-12-14
Motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Oscar Huff) Granted in part

“For the reasons indicated, IT IS ORDERED that the motion of Oscar Huff to proceed in forma pauperis is granted as to the filing fee and trial transcript.”

Matthews v. United States (In re Matthews)
· 1995-04-11
Complaint for stay and discharge violations (S. Dean Matthews and Julia B. Matthews) Granted in part

“Therefore, it is ORDERED and ADJUDGED that S. Dean Matthews and Julia B. Matthews are awarded a judgment in the amount of $3,000.00 in their favor and against the United States of America.”

In re McKinney
· 1994-10-03
Motion for relief from stay (Jim Walter Homes, Inc.) Granted

“The motion of Jim Walter Homes, Inc. for relief from the automatic stay is granted as to the property described in Exhibit A.”

A historical record

Judge Mahoney no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.