In re Spickelmier
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada
469 B.R. 903 (2012)
Dr. Spickelmier (plaintiff) hired the Levinson firm, which first filed a bankruptcy petition under a chapter for which he was ineligible, then negotiated a conversion to an eligible chapter but failed to comply with the conversion's terms, causing his case's dismissal; the firm's later motion for reconsideration went unattended (the firm failed to appear at its own hearing), and its subsequent motion to shorten time was identical to one the court had already denied. When the court issued an order to show cause, warning that disgorgement of fees was a possible sanction, attorney Mondejar arrived late and was completely unprepared to explain the firm's repeated failures.
Whether a court may order disgorgement of all attorney's fees paid in a bankruptcy case when the legal representation performed was incompetent.