W. Richard Lee

How Judge Lee rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Retired 2015
Served
2001–2015
Appointed by
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Commissioned
2001-01-01
Signed orders read
17

How Judge Lee decides

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

What persuades

A request to extend a discharge-related deadline failed where the movant did not establish diligent investigation or explain why the work could not be completed on time.

“In this context, ‘cause’ is not shown when the moving party offers no evidence to show that he or she has diligently prosecuted an investigation of the underlying issues and offers no reasonable explanation why that investigation could not be completed within the time allotted.”

Procedural preferences

An applicant seeking unclaimed funds on a secured claim had to prove a continuing right to payment under the underlying agreement.

“The claimant must establish that it still has the right to payment on account of the original contract.”

Cautions

For an owner-occupied residence, an appraisal relying on bank-owned comparable sales was less persuasive than one using private sales consistent with the property's intended use.

“Because Graddy relied upon bank-owned comps in his analysis, the court is persuaded that the methodology used by Ricks was more reliable in light of the applicable law.”

Signed rulings

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

U.S. Bank National Ass'n v. Deamicis (In re Deamicis)
· 2011-07-26
Motion for relief from stay (U.S. Bank National Association as indenture trustee for the Terwin Mortgage Trust) Denied

“The Motion will be denied.”

In re Bomarito
· 2011-04-29
Motion to extend deadline to seek dismissal (United States Trustee) Denied

“Accordingly, the Extension Motion will be denied.”

Motion to dismiss for chapter 7 abuse (United States Trustee) Moot / procedural

“The Dismissal Motion will be denied as well.”

In re Pena
· 2011-09-09
Application for payment of unclaimed funds (Bank of America Corporation) Denied

“Accordingly, the Application for Unclaimed Funds filed on behalf of Bank of America Corporation by Sierra Funds Recovery, Inc., will be denied without prejudice.”

In re Renteria
· 2011-08-01
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 trustee) Denied

“Accordingly, the Trustee’s objection is overruled.”

In re Ruiz
· 2009-06-26
Objection to amended exemption (Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“the Trustee’s Objection to the Debtors’ exemption of the Bridge Property will be OVERRULED.”

In re Scholz
· 2010-03-31
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 trustee) Denied

“The Trustee’s Objection to confirmation will be overruled.”

In re Harris
· 2009-10-22
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 trustee) Granted

“The Objection will be sustained.”

In re Serda
· 2008-10-17
Motion to value collateral (debtor) Denied

“The motion will be denied.”

In re Lavilla
· 2010-03-23
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 trustee) Granted

“Confirmation of the Plan will be denied.”

In re Thissen
· 2009-02-12
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 trustee) Granted

“The Trustee’s Objection will be sustained.”

In re Baeza
· 2008-12-29
Motion to dismiss for chapter 7 abuse (United States Trustee) Granted

“the UST’s motion to dismiss will be granted unless the Debtors voluntarily convert their case to chapter 13 and file a chapter 13 plan within 10 days from service of this ruling.”

In re Meeks
· 2006-08-24
Motion to avoid judicial lien (debtors) Granted in part

“The Debtors’ motion to avoid the judicial lien of Pacific Bell will be granted in part.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Completed-case duration is reported for the ten terminated matters in the fixed sample.

A historical record

Judge Lee 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.