Roger M. Whelan

How Judge Whelan rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Deceased
Served
1972–1983
Commissioned
1972
Education
Georgetown University, A.B., cum laude, 1959; Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1962
Signed orders read
20

How Judge Whelan decides

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

What persuades

Credible evidence substantiating allegations of corporate fraud or misconduct supports appointment of an examiner.

“the appointment of an examiner is warranted whenever allegations of corporate fraud or misconduct are substantiated by credible evidence.”

Procedural preferences

A request for possession must be brought through an adversary proceeding rather than an application.

“an application to surrender possession is legally insufficient to bring the matter before the Bankruptcy Court.”

Cautions

A bankruptcy filing used only to delay foreclosure while refinancing is pursued can violate the rule against filings for improper delay.

“this ease was initiated solely for purposes of delay within the meaning of Bankruptcy Rule 911(a).”

Signed rulings

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

In re Johnson
· 1982-06-24
Motion to amend employment order and interim compensation (debtor-in-possession's counsel) Denied

“Accordingly, for the reasons stated, the motion requesting such relief is denied.”

In re Crestwell
· 1983-05-12
Attorney fee disgorgement (court sua sponte) Granted

“All fees assessed in each of the cases be cancelled and expunged, and that as to all fees actually received, that such fees be repaid to the debtors of record within 30 days of the date of this Order;”

Monetary sanction (court sua sponte) Granted

“That the attorney bear the cost of this proceeding in the amount of TWO HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS ($245.00);”

In re Bloomfield
· 1981-12-03
Attorney fee review (court sua sponte) Granted in part

“An order reducing the fee from the original charge of $750.00 to the stated level of $375.00 has already been entered by this Court.”

In re Commercial Finance Corp. of Nevada
· 1981-12-16

The opinion held that the United States Trustee had standing to seek conversion but did not resolve the conversion motion itself.

In re Harris
· 1980-02-01
Objection to proof of claim (trustee) Granted

“Accordingly, the trustee’s motion is GRANTED and the claim of STC is disallowed as a secured claim and allowed as an unsecured claim only.”

In re Smith
· 1982-09-30
Attorney fee review (court on remand) Denied

“this Court finds the appropriate fee to be awarded is $50.00. However, since no attorney disclosure statement was filed in this case in violation of Bankruptcy Rule 219, no fee will be awarded.”

Attorney fee review (court on remand) Granted in part

“this Court finds the appropriate fee to be awarded is $50.00.”

In re Jarvis Kitchenware of D.C., Inc.
· 1981-08-06
Motion to offset security deposit (trustee) Denied

“the trustee has no right to set-off the post-petition rent with the security deposit as there are pre-petition rental arrearages that exceed the amount of the security deposit.”

In re 1438 Meridian Place, N.W., Inc.
· 1981-05-21
Application to reject leases (debtor in possession) Granted

“pursuant to the express provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 365(a) the Court will approve the application to reject the leases.”

Request for possession (debtor in possession) Moot / procedural

“the substantive rights as to the issue of possession must be determined at a later date in the context of a properly filed adversary proceeding.”

In re Auto-Train Corp.
· 1981-11-03
Attorney fee review (Webster & Sheffield) Granted in part

“It is therefore found by this Court that the fair and reasonable fee for the firm of Webster & Sheffield is One hundred forty-four thousand sixty-seven dollars and forty-one cents ($144,067.41)”

Attorney fee review (Docter, Docter & Salus) Granted in part

“the fair and reasonable compensation to be awarded to Charles Docter is Thirty-three thousand five hundred eighty-eight dollars and fifty-five cents ($33,588.55).”

In re Doctors Hospital, Inc.
· 1980-05-12
Trustee application to file suits (trustee) Granted in part

“the Bankruptcy Court denies the Trustee’s application to file suits, except where there is a reasonable factual basis for determining that the amounts due from an individual patient subscriber are for noncovered services, or in those cases where there is evidence that no hospital coverage was in effect”

In re Auto-Train Corp.
· 1981-05-29
Motion to alter or amend or stay pending appeal (intervenor labor organizations) Denied

“For the reasons set forth in this Court’s Memorandum Opinion, the application of the Intervenors is denied in its entirety.”

In re Taylor
· 1981-01-29
Objection to exemption (trustee) Granted

“amounts to laches which is sufficient to bar relief in this proceeding.”

A historical record

Judge Whelan 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.