A. Thomas Small
How Judge Small rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Small no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Small decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the commodity-forward dispute, the absence of a fixed quantity defeated the asserted safe harbor.
“because the contracts for the sale of natural gas at issue in this adversary proceeding do not provide for specified quantities of natural gas to be sold, they are not, as a matter of law, commodity forward agreements”
Reliable income and collateral assurance supported allowing an individual Chapter 11 discharge to take effect at confirmation.
“The combination of the likelihood of payment and the assurance that the unsecured creditors will receive what they have agreed to accept in satisfaction of their claims gives the court confidence to allow the discharge to take effect upon confirmation of the plan.”
Procedural preferences
Preconfirmation adequate protection could be paid through the trustee when the method protected the secured creditor and simplified administration.
“That method of providing adequate protection is acceptable to the court, and the trustee may make a direct payment to Coastal as adequate protection if Coastal holds an allowed secured claim.”
Cautions
Standing challenges to a debtor-member's corporate rights should account for both economic and noneconomic interests entering the bankruptcy estate.
“Mr. Klingerman’s rights and interest in the LLC, economic and non-economic, became property of the estate upon the filing of his petition.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Accordingly, U.S. Army’s motion for summary judgment with respect to the swap agreement defense is ALLOWED as to all purchases except the spot purchases for February (delivery orders # 3 and # 4), March (delivery order # 6), October (delivery orders # 12 and # 13), and November (delivery orders # 14 and # 15). As to the other issues, U.S. Army’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“The trustee’s request for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Ms. Siegel has not met her burden of proving that her claim is a domestic support obligation, and, accordingly, the debt- or’s objection to Ms. Seigel’s priority claim is ALLOWED. Ms. Siegel’s claim is allowed as a general unsecured claim.”
“Summary judgment on that issue is GRANTED in favor of the trustee.”
“Soffe’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the debtor’s objection is ALLOWED, and the IRS shall have a priority claim of $1,911.33 and a general unsecured claim of $4,687.70.”
“Accordingly, this chapter 7 case is DISMISSED pursuant to § 707(a), effective 30 days from the date of this order.”
“Based on the foregoing, the debtor’s request for a show cause order to examine the claims filing practices of Roundup and B-Real and her request for attorney’s fees are DENIED.”
“Based on the foregoing, Mr. Klinger-man, as debtor in possession, does have standing to pursue dissolution of Execu-Corp, and to the extent that Mr. Parker’s Seventh Affirmative Defense is construed as a motion to dismiss for lack of standing, that motion is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the Ocean Isle property has been ABANDONED”
“Ms. Puls’ motion for relief from the order of June 28, 2007, is DENIED.”
“The debtors’ disclosure statement, which had been conditionally approved, contains adequate information and will be approved.”
“Also, the debtors’ plan of reorganization meets the confirmation requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 1129(a) and will be confirmed.”
“The combination of the likelihood of payment and the assurance that the unsecured creditors will receive what they have agreed to accept in satisfaction of their claims gives the court confidence to allow the discharge to take effect upon confirmation of the plan.”
“Accordingly, Smithfield’s motion to dismiss and alternative motion for summary judgment are DENIED.”
The court deferred the final dischargeability decision for two years and temporarily enjoined collection, so the writing is retained outside final-outcome statistics.
“The motion to extend the stay, to the extent it is necessary, is ALLOWED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
All five sampled matters were terminated after 240 to 1,975 days, with a median of 1,579 days. Every retained entry stream was empty.
A historical record
Judge Small 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.