S. Martin Teel Jr.

How Judge Teel rules, drawn from 24 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Teel 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
Retired 2020
Served
1988–2020
Commissioned
1988-02-08
Education
University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1970
Signed orders read
24

How Judge Teel decides

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

What persuades

Relief from the automatic stay was appropriate in the sampled property dispute where there was no equity and the property was unnecessary to an effective reorganization.

“relief from the stay is appropriate under 11 U.S.C. § 362(d)(2) based on the lack of equity and the fact that the property is not necessary for an effective reorganization.”

Procedural preferences

A party seeking to reopen or reinstate a dismissed case must identify a concrete legal and procedural basis for relief.

“the debtors have not shown why vacating the dismissal of their case would not be prejudicial to creditors.”

Cautions

The statutory prepetition credit-counseling requirement was enforced strictly when the debtor's certification lacked the required factual detail.

“the debtor does not qualify for a temporary exemption from obtaining credit counseling and therefore is ineligible under 11 U.S.C. § 109(h)(1) to be a debtor.”

Signed rulings

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

In re Tyrone Waters
97-00626 · 2020-09-24
Application for release of unclaimed funds (PNC Bank, N.A.) Denied

“PNC Bank’s second application (Dkt. No. 29) for release of unclaimed funds in the amount of $743.35 is DENIED without prejudice”

In re Marc S. Barnes and Anne M. Barnes
10-00743 · 2020-12-16
Motion to enforce plan and discharge injunctions (Debtors) Granted in part

“the debtors’ Motion to Enforce the Plan Injunction and Discharge Injunction Against the Internal Revenue Service (Dkt. No. 339) is thus granted with respect to discharging and enjoining collection of the claim for penalties relating to the income taxes for the year 2003 but is otherwise DENIED.”

In re Mario Alvarado and Teresa Alvarado
10-01208 · 2020-05-05
Request to waive reopening fee (Debtors) Granted

“the debtors’ request for waiver of the reopening fee is GRANTED.”

In re Nathan L. McCoy
16-00363 · 2020-02-18
Motion to avoid lien (Debtor) Moot / procedural

“the Motion to Avoid Lien (Dkt. No. 62) is stricken as filed prior to the case being reopened”

In re Nathan L. McCoy
16-00363 · 2020-03-11
Motion to avoid lien (Debtor) Moot / procedural

“the Amended Motion to Avoid Lien (Dkt. No. 66) is stricken as filed prior to the case being reopened”

In re Jeanette Jacqueline Nelson
17-00387 · 2019-09-20
Motion to convert to chapter 13 (Debtor) Denied

“the debtor’s motion to convert this case to Chapter 13 is DENIED.”

In re Janis A. Stewart
18-00482 · 2020-02-05
Motion to reopen (Debtor) Denied

“Stewart’s motion to reopen (Dkt. No. 52) is DENIED.”

In re Thandeka-Akua Yaa Asantewa Taharaka
18-00697 · 2020-01-08
Motion for reconsideration (Debtor) Denied

“the debtor’s motion docketed as Docket No. 95, which the court treats as a motion pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 to reconsider the dismissal of her case, is DENIED.”

Objection to proof of claim (Debtor) Moot / procedural

“the Motion for Objection to Disallow Claim (Dkt. No. 30) is dismissed based on the court’s decision to”

In re Tesae Christine Harrington
19-00813 · 2020-01-15
Motion to reinstate bankruptcy case (Debtor) Denied

“the motion to reinstate this case (titled Motion to Reinstates My Case (Dkt. No. 36)) is DENIED.”

In re Dominique Brief
19-00838 · 2020-02-06
Motion to vacate dismissal (Debtor) Denied

“the motion to vacate the order dismissing the case is DENIED.”

Duma v. U.S. Bank, N.A.
19-10019 · 2019-10-15
Motion for reconsideration (Plaintiff) Denied

“the debtor’s Motion to Vacate/Reconsider this Court’s Order to Dismiss the Above-Captioned Adversary Proceeding (Dkt. No. 18) is DENIED.”

Wilson v. U.S. Bank, N.A.
19-10026 · 2020-09-15
Motions to dismiss (U.S. Bank, N.A.) Granted

“a judgment follows dismissing this adversary proceeding.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The five sampled mature matters closed in a median 736 days. No current assigned cohort was found under the exact docket name.

A historical record

Judge Teel 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.