Kevin J. Carey

How Judge Carey rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Deceased
Served
2001–2024
Commissioned
2001
Education
Pennsylvania State University (B.A., political science, 1976); Villanova University School of Law (J.D.)
Signed orders read
26

How Judge Carey decides

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

What persuades

Claims central to preserving estate assets and restructuring creditor relationships weighed against sending the dispute to arbitration.

“the FAA’s purpose of protecting the private rights of individuals to enforce arbitration agreements conflicts with some of the most fundamental purposes of the Bankruptcy Code, such as preserving the estate’s assets, protecting the interests of all creditors, and restructuring the debtor-creditor relationships”

Procedural preferences

The court declined to reopen a trial record for cumulative evidence that would add expense and delay without materially assisting the decision.

“The proposed addition to the record would be of little probative value, cumulative in some respects, and add further expense and delay to resolution of this approximately $2,500 dispute.”

Cautions

A long history of unsuccessful filings weighed against good faith when the debtor could not show changed circumstances.

“The Debtor has not met his burden of proving good faith in filing yet another chapter 13 bankruptcy case.”

Signed rulings

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

Bell v. Parkway Mortgage, Inc. (In re Bell)
01-14420 / 01-00392 · 2004-09-09
Motion for reconsideration (Maxine B. Bell and Edward Sparkman) Granted in part

“the Motion for Reconsideration is granted, in part, and denied, in part;”

Bell v. Parkway Mortgage, Inc. (In re Bell)
01-14420 / 01-00392 · 2004-04-14

This decision followed an adversary trial rather than resolving a motion.

Barber v. Fairbanks Capital Corp. (In re Barber)
00-10027 / 00-00696 · 2003-06-03
Summary judgment (Advanta Mortgage Corporation) Granted in part

“Advanta Mortgage Corporation’s motion for summary judgment is hereby granted as to Count IV, and denied as to Counts I, II, and III;”

Summary judgment (Fairbanks Capital Corporation) Granted in part

“Fairbanks’ Capital Corporation’s motion for summary judgment is hereby granted as to the Debtor’s usury claims under 41 P.S. §§ 502 and 503 set forth in Count II, and denied as to Count I, and denied as to the Debtor’s claims under the Home Improvement Finance Act, 73 P.S. §500-101 et seq., set forth in Count II;”

Request for default judgment (Fairbanks Capital Corporation) Denied

“Fairbanks’ Capital Corporation’s request for default judgment on its counterclaims is denied;”

Summary judgment (Margaret Barber) Denied

“The Debtor’s motion for summary judgment on Count I against Advanta Mortgage Corporation and Fairbanks Capital Corporation is denied.”

Hatfield-Smith v. Hershock (In re Hatfield-Smith)
98-30182 / 00-00863 · 2003-04-14
Motion to reopen trial record and issue subpoena (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency) Denied

“Defendant’s Combined Motion for Expedited Hearing and Motion to Reopen the Record and for Leave to Issue a Subpoena to Obtain Additional Evidence Unavailable at the Time of Trial, is DENIED.”

Lewis v. Delta Funding Corporation (In re Lewis)
00-32042 / 00-00935 · 2003-03-25
Summary judgment (Helen Lewis) Granted in part

“the Debtor’s Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED as to Counts I and II, but GRANTED, in part, as to Count IV, as described above.”

In re Clinton Lee Williams and Sharon Ann Williams
01-36037 · 2003-03-05
Objection to exclusion of retirement account from estate (Mary Bintliff and the Estate of Marilyn Myers) Granted

“Clinton Williams’ individual retirement account deposited with The Vanguard Group is not excluded from the property of Clinton Williams’s bankruptcy estate by virtue of 11 U.S.C. §541(c)(2);”

Mintze v. American General Finance, Inc. (In re Mintze)
01-36979 / 02-00524 · 2003-01-17
Motion to dismiss and compel arbitration (American General Finance, Inc. and American General Consumer Discount Co.) Denied

“the Defendant’s Motion To Dismiss And Compel Arbitration is DENIED;”

Kruger v. Eastern Savings Bank, FSB (In re Kruger)
02-14310 / 02-00471 · 2003-01-08
Summary judgment (Eastern Savings Bank, FSB) Granted in part

“The Motion is granted, in part;”

Jones v. The Money Store, Inc. (In re Jones)
01-10733 / 01-00074 · 2002-09-27
Motion for relief from stay (The Money Store, Inc.) Granted

“the Stay Motion is hereby GRANTED and the stay imposed by 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) is hereby lifted as to The Money Store, Inc.”

Objection to exemption (The Money Store, Inc.) Granted

“With respect to the Exemption Objection, upon consideration of the Exemption Objection and the Debtor’s response thereto, and after trial on the merits, and for the reasons given in the accompanying Memorandum, the Exemption Objection is SUSTAINED.”

In re Richard Legree
01-17946 · 2002-08-21
Motion to dismiss bankruptcy case and impose refiling bar and sanctions (Valley Township) Granted in part

“The Motion is GRANTED, in part, as follows:”

In re Edward J. Haas
02-17553 · 2002-08-14
Motion to enforce automatic stay and obtain release (Edward J. Haas) Denied

“the Debtor’s Stay Motion is DENIED.”

Thompson v. Hewitt (In re Thompson)
02-12586 / 02-00807 · 2002-08-13
Preliminary injunction (Gerald E. Thompson) Denied

“the Plaintiff’s Motion is DENIED.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

All five sampled cases were filed on January 2, 2001 and terminated between April 2001 and March 2004.

A historical record

Judge Carey 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.