End Result Was $18,714 Was Nondischargeable, But $5,738 Was Dischargeable.
In In re Albert-Sheridan (Albert-Sheridan v. California State Bar), No. 19-60023 (9th Cir. June 10, 2020) (published), a disciplined California lawyer was ordered by the State Bar to pay $18,714 in costs for the disciplinary proceeding and to pay a client’s opponent $5,738 in discovery sanctions as conditions to lifting her suspension. Lawyer filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, later converted to a Chapter 7, trying to discharge all of the costs and discovery sanctions. The bankruptcy court said “no,” but the Ninth Circuit said “no” and “yes.” With respect to the State Bar disciplinary costs, those were nondischargeable. But, a different result as to the discovery sanctions: in a first impression issue, the federal appellate court determined they were dischargeable in light of the fact they were not payable to a governmental entity.
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