Recent Events

Super Lawyers.  K. Todd Curry of Curry Advisors has been included in Super Lawyers for 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

San Diego Magazine Top Lawyer.  K. Todd Curry of Curry Advisors has been recognized by San Diego Magazine as one of San Diego's top lawyers in the field of Bankruptcy Law (non-consumer, business) from 2013 through 2023. 

Chapter 11 Subchapter V Bankruptcy Plan Confirmed.   Using the new Subchapter V provisions of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, Curry Advisors helped save a local family business and the jobs of the people employed there.  The client had been engaged in financially draining class action wage and hour litigation for many months and was unable to achieve a settlement.  Faced with closing the business, the company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief as a last resort.  After analyzing the client’s finances, Curry Advisors recommended a Subchapter V Chapter 11 case.  The more powerful options available in Subchapter V enabled the firm to negotiate a resolution of the litigation and to confirm of a plan of reorganization that paid creditors a portion of what they were owed and allowed the client to emerge successfully from Chapter 11. 

Summary Judgment in Bankruptcy Litigation.  Curry Advisors achieved victory for its client, a local law firm that was sued by a Chapter 11 debtor.  The debtor sought to recover monies that the law firm paid itself from the client trust account, alleging that the payment violated the automatic stay.  The bankruptcy court granted summary judgment for Curry Advisors’ client, finding that the payment was proper under the doctrine of recoupment (which is not subject to the automatic stay).  Alternatively, the bankruptcy court found that retroactive annulment of the automatic stay was appropriate.  As the prevailing party, the client was awarded costs against the debtor. 

Victory In Virtual Trial.  The firm’s client leased medical equipment to a physician who ceased making payments while continuing to use the equipment.  He argued that the employee who signed the lease lacked authority to do so.  In a multi-day trial conducted via video due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm’s client prevailed after the court found that the employee had both actual authority and ostensible authority, and that the physician otherwise had ratified the employee’s conduct.  The judgment in favor of the firm’s client exceeded $500,000 and included interest and an award of all attorneys’ fees and costs incurred to prosecute the action.  

Chapter 7 Debtor Allowed to Keep Lifetime Spendthrift Trust Payments.  A Chapter 7 debtor contacted Curry Advisors after defaulting on a bankruptcy trustee’s motion to seize the debtor’s monthly payments from the spendthrift trust his father left to him.  The firm sought and obtained relief from default under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), then successfully argued that despite the debtor being a California resident, Pennsylvania spendthrift trust law applied to prevent the trustee from reaching any of the lifetime annuity payments.   

Chapter 7 Debtor Retains His Post-Bankruptcy Bonus.  The firm’s client received a year-end bonus several weeks after filing for bankruptcy.  The Chapter 7 trustee sought to take the bonus, which the debtor needed for his fresh start.  After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the matter, the firm asked the bankruptcy court to allow the debtor to retain the bonus.  The bankruptcy court allowed the debtor to retain his bonus because (i) a portion was earned post-bankruptcy, and (ii) even the portion earned pre-bankruptcy was exempt because the debtor needed it to support himself and his family.    

Jury Trial Victory in Commercial Lease Litigation.  As co-counsel in a month-long jury trial, Curry Advisors helped a commercial landlord to recover damages for breach of a lease resulting from a tenant’s abandonment of the business premises and to defeat the tenant’s cross-complaint for fraud and rescission. Because the firm's client unquestionably was the prevailing party, the San Diego Superior Court awarded the client 100% of the attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the client through trial.

Rescission and Damages in $2 Million Real Estate Fraud Arbitration.  Curry Advisors was lead counsel in a real estate fraud arbitration in which the seller of a home misrepresented facts and induced the firm’s client to purchase. The misrepresentations concerned neighborhood noise (including incessant dog barking) and numerous concealed defects in the property. After a six-day arbitration, the firm’s client was awarded rescission and consequential damages, including closing costs, mortgage interest, maintenance and moving expenses, and the discounted present value of the increased mortgage interest expense to be incurred for the client’s replacement residence. The award also included prejudgment interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The value of the recovery for the client was nearly $2 million.

Summary Judgment Granted in Dischargeability Litigation.  An investor in a business sued the firm’s client under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4) for more than $1 million, claiming that the debt was non-dischargeable in bankruptcy because it allegedly arose out of embezzlement or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity. Curry Advisors achieved a complete victory when the United States Bankruptcy Court granted summary judgment in favor of the client, thereby avoiding the delay and substantial expense associated with a trial.

Dismissal of Abusive Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case.  Shortly after borrowing $100,000 and securing the debt with a lien on real property, a debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Next, the debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case seeking to strip off the lien, which effectively would have enabled the debtor to escape all responsibility for the debt. Representing the secured creditor, Curry Advisors filed a motion to dismiss the Chapter 13 bankruptcy case because the debtor's secured debt exceeded the limits under the Bankruptcy Code. The United States Bankruptcy Court granted the motion to dismiss the Chapter 13 case. Thereafter, the firm’s client successfully foreclosed on the real property and was made whole.

Writ of Possession Granted to Equipment Lessor.  Curry Advisors represented a lessor who sought to repossess equipment when a grocery store lessee ceased making payments shortly after the lease commenced. Curry Advisors filed claim and delivery litigation and successfully obtained a writ of possession early on, which entitled the firm’s client to repossess the equipment before trial. A settlement was reached shortly thereafter.

Curry Advisors Obtains Summary Judgment for Guarantors.  The firm’s clients were sued on personal guaranties of a multi-million dollar commercial real estate loan. After the borrower reorganized in Chapter 11 and cured all defaults with respect to the loan, the lender sued the guarantors seeking to collect default interest that the borrower did not have to pay. On cross motions for summary judgment, the referee appointed by the San Diego Superior Court pursuant to a general reference provision in the loan documents denied the lender’s motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment in favor of the firm’s clients, finding that the absence of any default by the borrower meant no claim existed against the guarantors. The referee’s decision was adopted by the Superior Court. Curry Advisors then obtained an award of attorneys’ fees for the firm’s clients.

Curry Advisors Secures Default Judgment for Creditor.  The firm’s client loaned money to the debtors, who later filed for bankruptcy. The client engaged the firm to commence bankruptcy litigation to prevent the debtors from discharging their debt. When the debtors repeatedly refused to comply with their discovery obligations, Curry Advisors obtained an order striking the debtors’ answer and entering their default. After a contested default judgment prove-up hearing, the bankruptcy court entered in favor of the firm’s client a non-dischargeable judgment that included substantial pre-judgment interest.

Curry Advisors Wins Bankruptcy Appeal.  The firm filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case for a client that sought a fresh start after suffering an adverse ruling in an arbitration among business partners. The firm then defended the client in subsequent litigation by the creditor to prevent discharge of the arbitration award. The bankruptcy court granted summary judgment against the client, relying on issue preclusion. On appeal, Curry Advisors convinced the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit that the bankruptcy court erred in granting summary judgment, and that the client should not be deprived of a day in court and was entitled to a trial. The judgment was vacated. The successful appeal allowed the dispute to be settled to the parties’ satisfaction and enabled the client to obtain a fresh start.

Curry Advisors Achieves Dismissal of Abusive Chapter 7 Case.  Curry Advisors represented a group of judgment creditors against a high-income debtor who filed Chapter 7. Arguing that the debtor’s income was substantial and his expenses were extravagant, the firm prevailed on a motion to dismiss the debtor's bankruptcy case as abusive. The firm’s clients are now free to collect on their judgment.

Curry Advisors Obtains Judgment Against Contractor.  The firm represented a homeowner who was sued by his contractor for alleged failure to pay amounts due under a home improvement contract. Curry Advisors filed a cross-complaint against the contractor for recovery of overcharges and for incomplete work and poor workmanship. On the eve of trial, the contractor agreed to dismiss the complaint and stipulated to a judgment in favor of the client in the full amount of the client’s damages, plus attorneys’ fees.

Curry Advisors Prevails on Motion to Quash Service of Process.  The firm’s client, a Mexican company doing business almost exclusively in Mexico, was sued in the San Diego Superior Court by a Mexican bank based on allegations that the company was the alter ego of various individuals living in the United States. Curry Advisors filed a motion to quash service based on the court’s lack of personal jurisdiction over the client. The court granted the motion and the litigation against the client was dismissed, thereby saving the client the time, expense, and inconvenience of defending litigation in the United States, where the client’s contacts were virtually nonexistent.

Discharge of $40 Million in Debt.  Curry Advisors obtained a Chapter 7 discharge for an individual debtor with more than $40 million of unsecured debts.

Curry Advisors Successfully Defends Lawsuit Filed by International Franchisor.  The firm defended a Chapter 7 debtor in bankruptcy litigation brought by a creditor (a well-known, international real estate brokerage franchisor) seeking a multi-million dollar, non-dischargeable judgment and seeking to deny the debtor a discharge generally. After fours days of trial, the creditor dropped all claims against the client. Then, over the creditor’s vigorous objections, the Bankruptcy Court granted the firm’s client a six-figure award of attorneys’ fees against the creditor.

Successful Chapter 11 Reorganization.  Curry Advisors completed a Chapter 11 reorganization for the owner of a shopping center that had been approved for redevelopment. An aggressive real estate speculator purchased the secured note from the bank at a significant discount and sought to gain a substantial windfall by foreclosing on the property. The Chapter 11 case allowed the client time to sell a portion of the property so that the secured creditor’s claim could be paid. The client saved more than $500,000 in “default” interest, which more than offset the cost of the Chapter 11 case despite the secured creditor’s persistent and aggressive litigation tactics designed to prevent confirmation of a plan of reorganization.