PBCBA BAR BULLETINS JUNE 2020 BULLETIN | Page 12

BANKRUPTCY CORNER Circumventing th Nunc P JASON S. RIGOLI On February 24, 2020, the United States Supreme Court effectively banned nunc pro tunc orders, which are often used in bankruptcy to make retention orders effective when the application or petition was filed. See Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Acevedo Feliciano, 140 S. Ct. 696, 206, L. Ed. 2d (Sup. Ct. Feb. 24, 2020). What are bankruptcy practitioners and courts to do when professionals have begun performing services weeks before the application for employment is filed and approved? Judge Robert E. Grossman, United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York, came up with a creative solution in In re Benitez, Case No. 8-19-70230-reg, 2020 WL 1272258 (Mar. 13, 2020 Bankr. E.D.N.Y). The issue can be resolved when approving compensation to these professionals. Looking at the language of sections 327 and 330 of the Bankruptc Rule of Bankruptcy P Grossman found The only temporal Code and Rules is must have been re section 327 to succes award of compensati professional must be by the statute, but retained, the bankru compensation him for the estate at any time approval, in accordan the Code. Benitez, at *2. Meanin award compensation prior to the Bankruptc the retention, so lon Court approved the pr and the compensa ExpEriEncEd court AppointEd RECEIVER • Receiver - 17th Florida Judicial Circuit • Receiver - 19th Florida Judicial Circuit • 30 Year Florida Commercial Real Estate Broker • Multi-Family, Office, Industrial, Retail • Palm Beach, Broward, Treasure Coast Counties • CCIM Designation, Expert Witness • Diversified Business Experience • Former Director, Realtors Assoc. of Palm Beach • Former President, RAPB Commercial Alliance Edward A. Kearney President Kearney Commercial Realty, Inc. 3017 Exchange Court, Suite D West Palm Beach, FL 33409 (561) 252-2502 [email protected]