Coming off our month long Judge Drake Series, I sat down this morning to comb through Westlaw for new Subchapter V opinions. I found a couple, but they can wait. What really got my attention was an opinion from Bankruptcy Judge Scott Clarkson (C.D. Cal). The case is In re Summit Financial, Inc., 2021 WL 5173331 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. Nov. 5, 2021). You can find the opinion here.

We attribute Judge Clarkson as having issued the very first substantive Subchapter V opinion. Technically, his November opinion relates to a Sub V debtor, but the issue is far more universal, and kind of scary, too: Is it ever plagiarism or, at least, unethical to copy/paste from other attorneys’ pleadings? Possibly.Continue Reading Is it Ever Plagiarism to Use Other Attorneys’ Work Product?