Mary D. France
How Judge France rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge France no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge France decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
When intent was central to a nondischargeability claim, unresolved evidence about the debtor's state of mind prevented summary judgment.
“When intent is at issue, it is difficult to resolve an adversary complaint by summary judgment.”
Procedural preferences
After confirmation, finality controlled even where a plan provision should not originally have been approved.
“after the plan is confirmed the policy favoring the finality of confirmation is stronger than the bankruptcy court’s and the trustee’s obligations to verify a plan’s compliance with the Code.”
Cautions
A bankruptcy filing made on the eve of litigation did not establish bad faith without proof that the debtor lacked a genuine reorganization purpose or ability to reorganize.
“Implicit in this holding is the proposition that filing for bankruptcy to stop a lawsuit, without more, is not bad faith.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For these reasons, summary judgment will be denied.”
“For the reasons discussed below, Debtors’ motion for summary judgment will be denied, and the motions of Loan Science, Chase, and the USDE will be granted in part and denied in part.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the Trustee’s Objection to Walck’s Amended Schedule C will be overruled.”
“Debtors case will be dismissed unless they elect to convert to Chapter 13.”
“At this juncture, the Court to declines to lift the automatic stay as to property of the estate.”
“For the reasons set forth below, the Objections were sustained at the hearing held on November 23, 2011, and the petition was dismissed.”
“The motion to dismiss will be granted unless Debtor moves to convert the case to chapter 13 within ten days of the date of the Order accompanying this Opinion.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED;”
“Defendants’ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED;”
“For the reasons set forth below, the Trustee’s Objection will be overruled.”
“dictates that the objections in the instant cases be sustained.”
“objection to the Final Report will be sustained”
“For the reasons dis-cussed below, the § 523(d) Motion will be denied and the Rule 11 Motion will be granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
All five sampled matters were terminated, and none retained a docket-entry stream.
A historical record
Judge France 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.