⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit hears argument in In re Scheuplein. This is a bankruptcy dispute between a former employer and an employee who allegedly took trade secrets when he left the company. The employer, Copy Solutions, sued for willful and malicious injury under Section 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code, seeking to have the debt declared nondischargeable. The employer also relied on a 2018 employment agreement with confidentiality and proprietary information clauses. After a trial, the bankruptcy court ruled for the employee, finding that while he may have used confidential information, the employer failed to connect the dots with sufficient evidence. The employer lost on the merits and was ordered to pay $28,000 in the prevailing employee's attorney's fees based on a fee-shifting provision in that 2018 agreement. The core legal issue on appeal is narrow: whether the litigation was "on the contract" within the meaning of California's contract fee-shifting statute, such that the prevailing employee can recover fees even though the employer had made the contract central to its claims throughout the trial.

In re Scheuplein, IV (No. 25-1259) — United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit, argued July 16, 2026.