Victoria S. Kaufman

How Judge Kaufman rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California
Position
bankruptcy
Appointed by
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Commissioned
2006-05-02
Education
Bryn Mawr College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1986); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1989)
Signed orders read
22

How Judge Kaufman decides

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

What persuades

Exhibits supporting a motion should be authenticated by a witness with personal knowledge and authority.

“Testimony in a written declaration, made by a person who has personal knowledge and authority, is required to authenticate the contents of each exhibit.”

A valuation opinion is stronger when supported by comparable sales or other relevant valuation materials.

“A debtor may provide an opinion of value, which should be supported by an analysis of comparable sales or other relevant materials in support of the debtor’s opinion of value”

Procedural preferences

Tentative rulings do not excuse an appearance unless chambers or the ruling expressly says so.

“unless (A) Judge Kaufman’s chambers or calendar clerk has confirmed that no appearance is necessary or (B) the tentative ruling itself states that no appearance is necessary, appearances are required.”

Discovery disputes require compliance with the court's meet-and-confer procedure.

“Judge Kaufman requires parties to comply with requirements of LBR 7026-1(c) when a discovery dispute arises.”

Cautions

Ex parte relief is exceptional; nearly all motions require notice.

“It is very rare to obtain a court order without notice. Nearly all motions require some form of notice.”

Failure by a movant to appear may lead to denial for failure to prosecute and sanctions.

“A moving party’s failure to attend the hearing on its own motion may result in denial of the motion for failure to prosecute and in the imposition of sanctions.”

Signed rulings

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

In re Lusine Hakhverdyan
1:25-bk-11049 · 2026-03-03
Motion to vacate extension order (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Denied

“The Court will deny Debtor’s FRCP 60 Motions.”

Motion to vacate extension orders (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Denied
Motion to strike stipulations (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Denied
Motion for sanctions (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Denied
Motion to bar nondischargeability actions (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Denied
In re Lusine Hakhverdyan
1:25-bk-11049 · 2026-03-03
Motion for fee disgorgement (debtor Lusine Hakhverdyan) Granted in part

“The Court will grant, in part, the Disgorgement Motion.”

Gottlieb v. Arakelyan
1:25-ap-01065 · 2026-03-03
Motion to set aside default judgment (debtor Anush Arakelyan) Denied

“The Court will deny the Motion.”

In re Michael DeVon Bowers
1:24-bk-10935 · 2025-01-13
Motion for stay violation damages and contempt (debtor Michael DeVon Bowers) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court will deny the Motion.”

In re Monica L. Columbia
1:23-bk-10696 · 2024-12-11
Fee application (Law Offices of Robert M. Yaspan) Denied

“the Court will deny the allowance of all compensation”

In re Irwin Naturals et al.
1:24-bk-11323 · 2025-04-15
Motion to terminate exclusivity (FitLife Brands, Inc.) Granted

“For the reasons set forth above, the Court determines that cause exists to terminate”

Bjornbak v. Dugar
1:20-ap-01083 · 2022-03-01
Motion to deem facts admitted (plaintiffs David Bjornbak and Qiang Bjornbak) Denied

“the Court will relieve Defendant from any deemed admissions and allow Defendant to amend his responses to the Rule 36(a) Request”

Keri Miller and Michael Miller v. Steven Louis Miller
1:22-ap-01062 · 2025-01-07
Nondischargeability claim (plaintiffs Keri Miller and Michael Miller) Granted

“Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A), the Court will enter judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $248,388.51.”

Nondischargeability claim (plaintiffs Keri Miller and Michael Miller) Denied

“Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4), the Court will enter judgment in favor of Defendant.”

Adri v. Adri
1:19-ap-01072 · 2022-06-09
Objection to discharge (plaintiff Moshe Adri) Granted

“The Court will deny Ms. Adri’s receipt of a discharge pursuant to § 727(a)(2)(A)-(B) and § 727(a)(4).”

Objection to discharge (plaintiff Moshe Adri) Granted
Mayorga v. Fancher
1:23-ap-01026 · 2025-07-30
Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Louis Mayorga) Granted

“Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A), the Court will enter judgment in favor of Mr. Mayorga.”

Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Louis Mayorga) Denied

“Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4), the Court will enter judgment in favor of Ms. Fancher.”

Kine v. Lliteras
1:22-ap-01018 · 2023-08-10
Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Charles Kine) Denied

“For the reasons discussed above, the Court will rule in favor of Defendant.”

Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Charles Kine) Denied
Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Charles Kine) Denied
Nondischargeability claim (plaintiff Charles Kine) Denied
In re Georges Marciano
1:11-bk-10426 · 2010-12-28
Summary judgment (petitioning creditors) Granted

“Petitioning Creditors’ Second Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.”

Motion for reconsideration (alleged debtor Georges Marciano) Denied

“Marciano’s Motion for Reconsideration and cross-motion for summary judgment are both denied.”

Summary judgment (alleged debtor Georges Marciano) Denied

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Five sampled early-tenure matters terminated in 196 to 435 days, with a median of 304 days. Five matters filed on August 14, 2026 remained pending. This boundary sample is descriptive and is not a complete caseload census.

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