Lawyer’s Bankruptcy Sanction Upheld Based on Disclosure Filing

A debtor’s counsel in a bankruptcy case failed to convince the Seventh Circuit to overturn a ruling that he must return fees for failing to file an updated financial disclosure form.

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that Anthony Peraica must disgorge $21,500 paid by Jelena Dordevic in connection with her Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. Peraica purportedly submitted a financial statement in which he reported only $5,000 of the total Dordevic paid.

The U.S. Trustee asked Peraica to file an updated Rule 2016 fee disclosure with the bankruptcy court, but Peraica instead sent an informal accounting ...