Shelley C. Chapman
How Judge Chapman rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Chapman no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Chapman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Independent creditor support carried substantial weight when the court assessed whether a proposed settlement served the estate.
“the support of the Creditors’ Committee here weighs heavily in favor of approval of the proposed settlement”
Procedural preferences
A restructuring agreement had to preserve the debtor's ability to comply with fiduciary duties rather than lock in a sponsor's control over the case.
“I believe that the so-called Fiduciary Out, as written, is flawed. It prohibits the Debtors from taking action consistent with their fiduciary obligations.”
Cautions
Valuation evidence was treated cautiously when a proponent selected only favorable data without showing that its model reliably predicted market outcomes.
“there should be no cherry-picking of the data, i.e., pointing to one piece of data that supports a particular conclusion, while ignoring other data that may contradict that conclusion”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court overrules the Derivative Plaintiffs’ objections and will enter the Amended Order”
“the Debtors’ motion to assume the PSA is denied”
“I find that Appaloosa cannot be given ‘party in interest’ standing to be heard on the Motion in its capacity as a certificateholder”
“Accordingly, for all of the foregoing reasons, the Motion is granted.”
“The Sale Motion is granted in its entirety”
“All objections, if any, to the Sale Motion or the relief requested therein that have not been withdrawn, waived, or settled as announced to the Court at the Sale Hearing or by stipulation filed with the Court, and all reservation of rights included therein, are hereby overruled”
“For the reasons stated, the Motion is granted. To the extent not already withdrawn, and with the exception of the Fee Damages, the Claim shall be disallowed in its entirety and expunged from the claims register.”
“For the reasons stated, the Objection is sustained.”
“For all of the foregoing reasons, the Motion is denied.”
“the Court hereby denies the request for a stay”
“For all of the foregoing reasons, (i) the Trustee’s Motion is granted; and (ii) the Employees’ Motion is denied.”
“The Omnibus Objections are sustained.”
“For the reasons stated, the Objection is overruled and the request for subordination of the FHLB Claims is denied.”
“the Debtors’ motion for summary judgment on their declaratory judgment claims against Nordheim and HPIP is GRANTED”
“Nordheim’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and HPIP’s motion for judgment on the pleadings are DENIED”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
One sampled docket had an empty entry stream. Four additional streams were excluded because their entries fell years outside the corresponding case lifespan.
A historical record
Judge Chapman 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.