Ronald B. King

How Judge King rules, drawn from 11 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas
Position
bankruptcy
Status
Retired 2021
Served
1988–2021
Appointed by
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Commissioned
1988-10-01
Signed orders read
11

How Judge King decides

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

What persuades

When state law gave a tax-sale purchaser title and left the debtor only a personal redemption right, the purchaser was treated as an owner rather than a secured claimant whose rights could be modified through a Chapter 13 plan.

“Therefore, the Debtor cannot modify W7’s rights in the chapter 13 plan because W7 is the owner of the Property, not a lien holder.”

Procedural preferences

For a statutory deadline that does not specify how time is calculated, the court applied the bankruptcy time-computation rule and extended a weekend deadline to the next business day.

“Where a section of the Bankruptcy Code specifies a period of time but not a method of calculating time, Rule 9006(a) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure provides a calculation method”

Cautions

An expert analysis may fail to carry the burden when it does not examine the underlying claims, supporting documentation, medical necessity, or responses to requests for more information.

“He did not review whether the lab tests were medically necessary or whether proper documentation was provided with a claim.”

A proposed settlement may fail when its proponent offers general conclusions but no evidence explaining why the settlement amount reasonably reflects the claim's value and likely recovery.

“the trustee presents no evidence as to how or why $105,000 is a reasonable number for settlement.”

A willful stay violation did not support punitive damages where the conduct resulted from mistake and inadequate training rather than vindictive, malicious, abusive, or bad-faith behavior.

“Based on the evidence, the Court finds that RAC’s employees’ actions were not vindictive, malicious, abusive, or accompanied by bad faith.”

Signed rulings

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

Studensky v. UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co.
18-60526; 20-06093 · 2024-10-29
Objection to claim (James Studensky, Chapter 7 Trustee) Denied

“The Trustee’s requested relief will be denied and the proofs of claim filed by United will be allowed.”

In re Andresi Rosett Tate
21-50947 · 2021-09-29
Motion for relief from automatic stay (W7 Homes, LLC) Granted

“W7’s Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay Against Real Property will be granted under § 362(d)(1) for cause and under § 362(d)(2) for lack of equity.”

In re Patricia Ann Reed
17-52875 · 2021-09-24
Objection to postpetition fees (Chapter 13 trustee) Denied

“Because Ovation’s claim is secured by a statutory lien, but not by a separate and enforceable security interest, the Court finds that Rule 3002.1 does not apply. The Trustee’s objection will be overruled.”

In re Buffets, LLC
16-50557 · 2019-02-08
Motion to determine quarterly fee liability (Buffets, LLC and affiliated reorganized debtors) Granted

“The amendment also cannot be retroactively applied to the Reorganized Debtors for any relevant year. Accordingly, the Reorganized Debtors’ motion will be granted.”

In re Jorge R. Alfonso and Naydimar Diaz
16-51448 · 2019-09-06
Motion to approve compromise and settlement (Chapter 7 trustee and Nordstrom, Inc.) Denied

“Accordingly, the Court will deny approval of the Proposed Settlement.”

In re John Russell Ulbrich
18-52574 · 2019-07-03
Objection to claim (John Russell Ulbrich) Denied

“The Debtor’s objection to Claim No. 3 of ‘Brenda Pescini by Moorpark Recovery Services LLC’ will be OVERRULED for the reasons discussed in this Opinion.”

Objection to claim (John Russell Ulbrich) Granted

“The Debtor’s objection to Claim No. 2 of Moorpark will be SUSTAINED because it is a duplicate of Claim No. 3.”

In re BVS Construction, Inc.
19-60004 · 2020-03-20
Motion to allow administrative expense (Mine Safety and Health Administration) Granted

“For these reasons, the Court has granted MSHA’s motion to allow an administrative expense for the post-petition penalties under § 503(b)(1)(A).”

Viegelahn v. Ruben's Auto Sales, LLC
18-52576; 20-05009 · 2020-08-05
Summary judgment (Ruben's Auto Sales, LLC) Granted

“Accordingly, Defendant’s motion for summary judgment will be granted on this ground.”

Summary judgment (Mary K. Viegelahn, Chapter 13 trustee) Denied

“The Trustee’s motion for summary judgment will be denied.”

Gabriel Investment Group, Inc. v. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission
19-52298; 20-05010 · 2020-11-03
Summary judgment (Gabriel Investment Group, Inc.) Denied

“GIG’s request for a declaratory judgment has been DENIED, as has been GIG’s motion for summary judgment.”

Summary judgment (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) Granted

“Conversely, TABC’s motion for summary judgment has been GRANTED by separate order.”

Gates v. RAC Acceptance Texas, LLC
20-50159; 20-05014 · 2020-11-05
Request for actual damages for stay violation (Cheryl Lynn Gates) Granted

“Accordingly, the Court awards Gates actual damages of $110.00”

Request for punitive damages for stay violation (Cheryl Lynn Gates) Denied

“As such, an award of punitive damages is not appropriate in this case.”

Request for contempt sanctions for stay violation (Cheryl Lynn Gates) Denied

“the Court finds no basis to award additional contempt sanctions against RAC for its conduct in violation of the automatic stay.”

Request for attorney fees for stay violation (Cheryl Lynn Gates) Granted

“Gates’s counsel will be awarded reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and costs.”

Lowe v. American Student Financial Group, Inc.
16-52492; 18-05259 · 2020-06-23
Alter ego declaratory claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“Because an alter ego finding would be inconsistent with the partial summary judgment, it will not be granted.”

Breach of contract and warranty claims (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“Because the Trustee is entitled to only one satisfaction, the Court declines to award breach of contract relief.”

Common law fraud claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“The fraud claim will be denied.”

Securities law claims (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“Relief will be denied under Counts 10 and 11.”

Equitable subordination claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“the Trustee is entitled to equitable subordination, with two significant caveats.”

Lien avoidance claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“The Court finds that the lien should be avoided under § 544(b)(1).”

Fraudulent transfer claims against cottingham texas (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“Relief under Counts 14 through 18 will be denied.”

Fraudulent transfer claims against asfg (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted in part

“The Trustee is entitled to judgment on four of the five fraudulent-transfer theories.”

Preference claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“Relief under § 547 will be denied, although the same relief will be awarded under a fraudulent-transfer theory as discussed above.”

Recovery of avoided transfers (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“The Court finds that the Trustee can recover any transfer avoided under §§ 544 and 548.”

Objection to claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“Accordingly, its claim should be disallowed in full.”

Avoidance of postpetition transfer (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“The Court will grant relief under section 549 in the amount of $62,843,28, the amount of the unauthorized transfer.”

Automatic stay violation claim (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Denied

“This is an alternative remedy to both, and relief under Count 28 will be denied.”

Request for attorney fees (John Patrick Lowe, Chapter 7 trustee) Granted

“The Trustee is entitled to reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees for bringing this action under Texas Business and Commerce Code § 24.013 and Rule 7054 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

One sampled adversary proceeding was terminated and one remained pending. The terminated matter supplied three express motion outcomes.

A historical record

Judge King 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.