Judge Waites is pleased to welcome Tara E. Nauful to his Charleston SC chambers as a career law clerk beginning June 27, 2016.
Tara has had more than 20 years of bankruptcy experience and comes to the Court from her position as partner in the law firm of Adams and Reese, LLP. She is a certified specialist in bankruptcy and debtor/creditor law and is certified as a mediator by the S.C. Supreme Court. She is also a past president of the S.C. Bankruptcy Law Association and has been frequently recognized by Best Lawyers in the area of bankruptcy and insolvency law. Tara will join Andrew Powell who works in the Columbia chambers.

Due to construction work taking place in the Charleston courtroom, Judge Waites' hearings scheduled for Thursday, May 12, 2016 will be conducted in Courtroom 5 on the 4th floor of the United States District Court, 85 Broad Street in Charleston at their previously scheduled time. Attorneys scheduled to appear are asked to notify their clients of the change in the location and to suggest an early arrival time to avoid unnecessary delay.

Best Practices – foreclosure and the automatic stay -

The judges recently received correspondence from a state court judicial officer asking our court to encourage counsel for debtors to ensure that a courtesy notice of a bankruptcy filing or intent to file is given to creditor attorneys when a foreclosure proceeding is nearing a sale. Providing prompt notice of bankruptcy helps avoid wasted effort by counsel and the state court and serves to limit the unnecessary costs and attorney fees that may be taxed to the debtor when notice is not given in a timely fashion. Equally important, ensuring that opposing counsel and the state court knows of the bankruptcy filing before unnecessary effort is expended is consistent with civility in the practice of law and the collegiality for which the bankruptcy bar is known. Likewise, counsel for the foreclosing party has on-line tools available to monitor bankruptcy filings and the best practice is to always check for a bankruptcy filing shortly before the sale is to occur. Because the stay arises by virtue of the filing of the bankruptcy petition, regardless of notice, an attentive creditor counsel can avoid wasting judicial resources by monitoring filings. We believe that most bankruptcy counsel are faithful in communicating with creditor counsel and that most creditor counsel engage in the practice of monitoring on-line case filing information before proceeding to a sale; nevertheless, and in cooperation with state judicial officials, we remind you of these best practices.

Student Loan Debt No-Look Fee
The Court being aware that student loan debt issues are arising more and more in Chapter 13 cases and that the resolution of such issues is critical to the Debtor(s)' fresh start, issues the following guidelines to establish a procedure for compensation for counsel who provide services to Debtor(s) in addressing student loan debt in Chapter 13 cases assigned to Judge Waites. Click here to view the Student Loan Debt guidelines.

Supplemental No-Look Fee for Loss Mitigation/Mortgage Modification
An additional supplemental no-look fee for LM/MM shall be allowed for representation of Debtor(s) and the filing of related pleadings for the following matters:

1. 
   
   $500 - Hearing on Debtor(s)' motion to enforce LM/MM guidelines


2. 
   
   $500 - Mediation of LM/MM as ordered by the Court

The additional supplemental no-look fees set forth above may be requested at the hearing by oral motion and authorized by the Court, or in the event of mediation, the fees may be authorized upon the mediator's submission of a mediation report indicating that Debtor(s)' attorney actively participated in the mediation.

Announcement of Valuation Dispute Mediation Pilot Program
In an effort to facilitate communication and settlement of contested valuation issues in Chapter 13 cases and in order to reduce costs of contested hearings, mediation will be ordered in certain cases involving valuation of secured claims on real estate and large value personal property, such as manufactured homes, tractor trailers or RVs (but excluding automobiles). The Court shall select and appoint a mediator who will be compensated by a fee of $400, to be equally divided between the debtor(s) and creditor, and who will perform up to 2 hours of service in preparation or mediation sessions. The form mediation order, which provides an opportunity to settle before mediation and thereafter a schedule for mediation, may be viewed by clicking here.