Debtor’s Prior Bankruptcy Discharge Vacated Six Years Later

A disbarred lawyer’s second bankruptcy case filed within two years of his first Chapter 7 case can be reopened and the discharge vacated as a clerical error, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California held.

The court has an “independent duty” to enforce Bankruptcy Code Section 727(a)(8), which bans two Chapter 7 discharges in cases filed within eight years, Judge Christopher M. Klein wrote Jan. 18.

A question arises, however, when there is a conflict between the Bankruptcy Code and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, but the conflict must be resolved in favor of the statute, ...