Duncan W. Keir
How Judge Keir rules, drawn from 19 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Keir no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Keir
Duncan W. Keir joined the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland in November 1993. He retired from active service in 2011 and continued as a recalled judge. His service on the court ended with his retirement from the bench on April 13, 2023.
How Judge Keir decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Dismissal was warranted where a debtor had no operating business and no realistic prospect of restoring one.
“Rehabilitation means to reestablish a business and Landmark has no business.”
A secured creditor's silence counted as acceptance only after the plan and service clearly disclosed the proposed treatment.
“the information received by the creditor must openly and notoriously inform the creditor of the proposed treatment of their claim and that the court will determine this issue at the confirmation hearing.”
Procedural preferences
A party could not relitigate a decided stay-relief request merely by presenting evidence that was available at the first hearing.
“a party is not entitled to try and then retry the same dispute simply because at the first trial insufficient evidence was introduced”
Cautions
A rejected lease remained estate property until abandonment or another statutory termination of the stay.
“an executory contract or unexpired lease that is rejected under 11 U.S.C. § 365(d)(1) is breached, but is not abandoned.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“After careful consideration, the court finds that the Landmark case should be dismissed and that continuation of the case in a chapter 7 is not in the best interests of the creditors or the estate.”
“the motion will not be granted.”
“the court will grant the UST Motion to Convert.”
“an Order will be entered directing the United States Trustee to forthwith appoint a Chapter 11 Trustee for each of these estates.”
“the Trustee’s demands in the Amended Complaint to receive a turnover from CitiMortgage are denied.”
“the Court declares that Citi-Mortgage holds the first priority lien upon the proceeds of the sale”
“the court will not grant a motion which seeks such approval by the court.”
“An Order Confirming Plan in accordance with this Memorandum Opinion has been entered.”
“the Trustee’s objection under Section 1325(a)(5)(B) therefore must be denied.”
“the Amended Chapter 13 Plan would be confirmed.”
“the motion for relief from stay will be denied as precluded for the reasons set forth in this Memorandum Opinion”
“the court determines that an interim allowance of fee is appropriate in the amount of 60% of the total flat fee for the case, that is $2,700.00.”
The opinion set a method for calculating projected disposable income and continued the confirmation hearing for evidence.
“the court has granted the Debtor’s Motion to Extend Automatic Stay.”
“an Order shall be entered denying the motion to dismiss.”
A historical record
Judge Keir no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.