Whitman L. Holt
How Judge Holt rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Holt
Whitman L. Holt has served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Washington since November 2019. He is the court’s chief bankruptcy judge.
Judge Holt's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Holt, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Contacting chambers
Put the case number in the subject of the proposed-order email, attach the order and any exhibits, and include no message.
“The case number must be in the email subject line and the proposed order attached to the email, along with any exhibits or attachments to the proposed order. No message should be included with the proposed order.”
Filing
For a case assigned to Judge Holt, upload each proposed order through CM/ECF and email an identical editable Word file or fillable local-form PDF to chambers.
“In addition to uploading a proposed order via CM/ECF, all proposed orders in cases assigned to Judge Holt must be sent in editable Word format, or in fillable PDF if created from a local form, to [email protected].”
Conferences
Schedule eligible hearings through CM/ECF using the preassigned dates; submit other hearing requests through the judge’s request page.
“Certain types of hearings may be scheduled through CM/ECF. Please select the ‘Pre-Assigned Hearing Dates’ link above. For a short presentation about accessing pre-assigned hearing dates, click here. All other hearing requests can be submitted by clicking here.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026).
How Judge Holt decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Serious but unsuccessful prefiling negotiations supported the city's good faith when an unpayable judgment and collection activity left bankruptcy as a practical route to comprehensive adjustment.
“The City owes a debt that it cannot pay. The City made serious efforts to negotiate a consensual resolution outside of bankruptcy, but those efforts ultimately were unsuccessful.”
A trustee’s strong-arm rights prevailed over an asserted ownership share that was not enforceable against a bona fide purchaser under state law.
“Ibbotson’s asserted more-than-50% interest in the property could not be maintained against a BFP under Washington law. As a result, the chapter 7 trustee can exercise his strong-arm powers under Bankruptcy Code section 544(a)(3) to void that interest for the benefit of Riel’s bankruptcy estate.”
Procedural preferences
The court allowed an interim intercompany payment without requiring completion of an adversary proceeding where the payment could be authorized without adjudicating lien validity or priority.
“there is no need for an adversary proceeding or any other process to be completed before the court can authorize Claar’s proposed payments to RC.”
Cautions
Requests for accommodations or waivers must rest on statutory authority; equitable concerns do not permit the court to override express requirements.
“bankruptcy courts’ equitable powers cannot override express provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The court has accordingly entered an order for relief and ruled that this bankruptcy case should proceed onward to the plan stage.”
“the court agrees with the chapter 13 trustee’s primary legal position, finds that the debtors’ proposed plan is unconfirmable, and therefore dismisses this case.”
The opinion announced the court’s analysis of a claim objection but expressly deferred all relief to a later order after recalculation submissions.
“court will therefore grant the debtor’s motion as to Action Collectors, hold Action Collectors in civil contempt, and issue a separate order imposing the sanctions described in this opinion.”
“Accordingly, the UST’s objection to the applicable PSZJ fee applications is overruled.”
“the court will enter a separate order granting defendants’ motions to dismiss with prejudice.”
“defendants have not established an entitlement to summary judgment based on their theories about assumption of the CBA.”
“the court will grant the motions to dismiss the complaint with leave for the Trustee to amend.”
“The debtors’ objection to proof of claim number 43 is sustained in part and overruled in part for the reasons discussed above.”
“The chapter 13 trustee’s motion to dismiss [ECF No. 30] is GRANTED to the extent set forth below;”
After trial, the court entered judgment for the trustee on the transaction-characterization and avoidance claims addressed in the opinion.
“court answers both questions in the negative and, therefore, denies Mr. Schultz’s requests.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Five sampled matters were terminated. The pending Chapter 9 stream supplied one express contested disposition; the five early-service streams chiefly contained administrative filings and unavailable attachments.
Draft for Judge Holt with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Holt, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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