Diane Davis

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

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

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Retired 2023
Served
2009–2023
Commissioned
2009-03-06
Education
St. Lawrence University, B.A. in Economics and German, 1976; Albany Law School, J.D., 1991
Signed orders read
20

How Judge Davis decides

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

What persuades

A mortgage covering both the debtor's residence and separate income-producing property was outside the residential anti-modification protection.

“Because Argent took a security interest in a single parcel of real property that included income-producing rental property in addition to Debtor’s principal residence, ASC’s claim may be modified.”

Industry custom and the collateral names supplied enough inquiry notice despite inaccurate ear-tag numbers.

“Defendant’s 2008 UCC-1 was effective to perfect Defendant’s secured interest in the sixteen cows, irrespective of the erroneous or outdated ear tag designations.”

Procedural preferences

Reconsideration did not permit parties to introduce available law that they had omitted from the original presentation.

“To allow Creditors to introduce the Session Law now, however, would be to give them the proverbial second bite at the apple after failing to meet their initial burden”

Repeated litigation of claims arising from the same facts was barred even when the renewed claims used bankruptcy terminology.

“This continuous litigation and exhaustion of judicial resources is exactly what res judicata seeks to prevent.”

Cautions

Fee shifting for a stay violation remained limited to work that was reasonable and necessary under the actual circumstances.

“The reasonableness and necessity of attorneys’ fees and costs for the prosecution of a willful violation of the automatic stay must be judged on a case by case basis.”

Signed rulings

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

In re Nichols
· 2010-08-31
Motion to convert chapter 12 case (CVM Partners 1, LLC) Denied

“CVM’s motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, convert Debtor’s Chapter 12 case to one under Chapter 7 of the Code pursuant to Code § 1208(d) is hereby denied”

In re Moore
· 2010-11-18
Objection to plan confirmation (America’s Servicing Company) Denied

“ASC’s Amended Objection to Confirmation of Debtors’ Amended Plan is hereby overruled”

In re Beebe
· 2010-08-20
Motion for stay violation damages (Terri and Andrew Beebe) Denied

“Debtors’ request for an award of actual damages pursuant to § 362(k)(l) is hereby denied in its entirety”

In re Griffin
· 2009-07-01

The court held that sovereign immunity did not bar actual emotional-distress damages and scheduled an inquest rather than fixing a final award.

In re Alexander
· 2010-03-05
Motion for reconsideration (Vernard Alexander) Denied

“Debtor’s request for reconsideration of the Court’s prior Order denying Debtor relief under either subsection (3)(A) or (4) of 11 U.S.C. § 109(h) is denied”

In re Duffy, Skinner, and Saita
· 2011-05-24
Motion for reconsideration (American Tax Funding, LLC and Optimum Asset Management, LLC in Duffy) Denied

“Creditors’ motion for reconsideration of the Order in each case now before the Court is denied”

Motion for reconsideration (American Tax Funding, LLC and Optimum Asset Management, LLC in Skinner) Denied
Motion for reconsideration (American Tax Funding, LLC and Optimum Asset Management, LLC in Saita) Denied
In re Joest
· 2011-03-18
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 Trustee) Denied

“the Court overrules the Trustee’s objection”

In re Glenn and In re Neve-Rinaldo
· 2010-05-19
Objection to exemption (Chapter 7 Trustee in Glenn) Denied

“the Trustee’s objection to the exemption claim in the tax refunds of the Glenns is denied”

Objection to exemption (Chapter 7 Trustee in Neve-Rinaldo) Denied

“the Trustee’s objection to the exemption claim in the tax refunds of the Neve-Rinaldos is denied”

White’s Lumber, Inc. v. Barksdale
· 2010-09-29

After trial, the creditor did not establish the culpable state of mind required for defalcation, and the debtors lacked a statutory basis for fees.

In re Wesseldine
· 2010-03-08
Objection to plan confirmation (Chapter 13 Trustee) Granted

“the Chapter 13 Trustee’s objection to confirmation of Debtors’ Plan is sustained as to any request for attorneys’ fees in excess of the $3,500.00 disclosed”

In re Uni Imaging Holdings, LLC
· 2010-01-12
Motion to determine contract is secured transaction (Uni Imaging Holdings, LLC) Denied

“the Debtor’s request for a determination that the contract between it and PMC, as discussed herein, constitutes a secured transaction is denied”

Planavsky v. County of Broome
· 2010-05-11
Motion to join (Village of Johnson City and Town of Dickinson) Granted

“the request filed on behalf of the Village of Johnson City and the Town of Dickenson to join in the Motions is granted”

Motion to dismiss adversary proceeding (County of Broome) Granted

“the Motions to dismiss filed on behalf of the County of Broome, the Town of Union, as well as the Village of Johnson City and the Town of Dicken-son, are granted”

Motion to dismiss adversary proceeding (Town of Union) Granted

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

All five sampled matters were terminated and every entry stream was empty.

A historical record

Judge Davis 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.