D. Michael Lynn

How Judge Lynn rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Lynn 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 Texas
Position
bankruptcy
Status
No longer serving
Commissioned
2001-09
Education
Lawrence University, degree in government, 1965; Columbia Law School, J.D., 1972
Signed orders read
17

How Judge Lynn decides

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

What persuades

Professional work may remain compensable when a transaction fails if the estate representative reasonably pursued the asset and counsel acted at the representative's direction.

“That the deal fell through does not mean the Firm should not be compensated”

A Chapter 13 plan may use income above the required projected-disposable-income contribution to favor selected creditors when the remaining unsecured creditors still receive at least their required pro rata share.

“the unfair discrimination analysis allows a debtor to utilize funds in excess of projected disposable income to prefer certain creditors, as long as unsecured creditors receive at least their pro rata share of the UCP.”

Cautions

Professionals employed in a bankruptcy case face meaningful fee consequences when their own conduct violates the automatic stay or the compensation-approval process.

“The court will reduce its award by $25,000 to account for BMY’s misconduct.”

Signed rulings

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

Keeton v. Sohal
09-46004 / 09-04425 · 2011-09-23
Complaint to deny discharge under section 727 (Andy Keeton) Granted in part

“judgment shall enter denying Sohal (but not Mrs. Sohal) a discharge.”

In re Broughton Ltd. Partnership
10-42327 / 10-42328 / 10-42329 · 2012-04-25
Application for professional fees (Cotten Schmidt & Abbott) Granted

“The Application is therefore approved in full and the Objection overruled.”

Objection to application for professional fees (The United States trustee) Denied
In re Klaas Talsma
10-43790 · 2012-03-27
Application for professional fees (Bellinger & Mayse Young) Granted in part

“The Application seeks fees and expenses in the amount of $57,867.20. The court will reduce its award by $25,000 to account for BMY’s misconduct.”

In re Village at Camp Bowie I, L.P.
10-45097 · 2012-01-11
Motion for stay pending appeal (Western Real Estate Equities, L.L.C.) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons the Motion must be, and it hereby is, DENIED.”

In re Gerald Joseph Davis and Carol Ann Davis
10-47600 · 2011-11-22
Trustee objection to chapter 13 plan (The Chapter 13 trustee) Granted in part

“ORDERED that the Objection is SUSTAINED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”

Chapter 13 plan confirmation (Gerald Joseph Davis and Carol Ann Davis) Denied

“ORDERED that confirmation of the plan is DENIED without prejudice”

In re Gordon Dana King and Anita Laurin King
11-40617 · 2011-09-22
Trustee objection to chapter 13 plan (The Chapter 13 trustee) Denied

“the Objection is OVERRULED and the Plan is CONFIRMED.”

Chapter 13 plan confirmation (Gordon Dana King and Anita Laurin King) Granted
Aigner v. McMillan
11-47029 · 2013-06-03
Motion to dismiss involuntary bankruptcy petition (Harry Neal McMillan) Granted

“the Petition will be dismissed and the Counterclaim denied to the extent consistent with this opinion.”

Counterclaim for bad faith involuntary petition damages (Harry Neal McMillan) Denied
North Park Terrace Apartments V, Ltd. v. Keiffer
10-45828 / 12-04009 · 2012-04-18
Motion to withdraw reference (North Park Terrace Apartments V, Ltd.) Denied

“I therefore recommend that the Motion be denied.”

FiberTower Network Services Corp. v. Federal Communications Commission
12-44027 / 12-04104 · 2012-10-11
Motion for injunction (FiberTower Network Services Corp. and affiliates) Granted in part

“to the extent provided in the 9/27 Order, the Motion is granted in part and otherwise denied.”

In re 1701 Commerce, LLC
12-41748 · 2012-08-23
Motion to dismiss chapter 11 case (Dougherty Funding, LLC) Denied

“the Motion to Dismiss be, and it hereby is, DENIED, without prejudice”

Motion for relief from automatic stay (Dougherty Funding, LLC) Granted in part

“the automatic stay of section 362(a) of the Code shall terminate pursuant to section 362(d)(1) of the Code at 10:00 a.m. local time on August 24, 2012, unless, prior to such time, Debtor deposits in the registry of this court $1,000,000”

Loe v. Green Tree Servicing LLC
11-44598 / 12-04108 · 2013-12-17
Summary judgment (Green Tree Servicing LLC) Denied

“Accordingly, the Motion is denied”

Request for actual damages for automatic stay violation (Susan Marie Loe) Granted

“the court awards actual damages in the amount of $1000 and punitive damages in the amount of $25,000.”

Request for punitive damages for automatic stay violation (Susan Marie Loe) Granted
Request for attorney fees for automatic stay violation (Susan Marie Loe) Granted

“the court awards reasonable attorney’s fees in the amount of $20,212.70.”

In re Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
08-45664 · 2012-01-31
Summary judgment (The reorganized debtors) Granted in part

“The Motion will be GRANTED as to consequential damages and otherwise DENIED.”

Summary judgment (The Live Oak growers) Granted

“Summary judgment will be GRANTED to the Growers to the extent that their claims are allowable in such amount as they might have been entitled to as damages had PPC breached their contracts immediately prior to commencement of these cases.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

All five sampled matters were terminated, but the archive returned no docket entries for any sampled stream.

A historical record

Judge Lynn 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.