Judge rejects Chapter 13 filing by lawyer known for porn-downloading lawsuits
Already under fire from legal ethics authorities concerning a once-profitable litigation business targeting individual porn downloaders, a Minnesota lawyer is now facing new trouble.
A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday rejected a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition by attorney Paul Hansmeier. The judge found Hansmeier had been dishonest with the court both before and after filing and made the petition “to thwart the collection efforts of his creditors,” reports the Star Tribune.
Under the Chapter 13 approach, Hansmeier could have potentially reorganized his reported $2.49 million in debts and taken as much as five years to repay creditors, under court supervision, to the best of his ability. Now that the judge has rejected his Chapter 13 case, Hansmeier will simply have his assets liquidated, the newspaper reports.
A lawyer for Hansmeier argued that his creditors would get more through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, noting that his condominium is scheduled to be sold for more than $1 million.
However, the trustee and a lawyer for creditors said they place little faith in anything Hansmeier says. Additionally, they are concerned that assets may have been transferred that should not have been, the newspaper reports.
An earlier WCCO story provides more details about the Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing by Hansmeier.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ethics complaint accuses lawyer who pursued porn downloaders of evasive testimony, money maneuvers
ABAJournal.com: “Judge boldly uses Star Trek references in opinion blasting lawyers who sued porn downloaders”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Ethics case alleges ‘settlement shakedown’ by lawyer whose Prenda firm sued porn downloaders”
