⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

A dispute over a divorced couple's finances has become a fight over bankruptcy lawyers' fees. Philip Metschan filed Chapter Seven bankruptcy, putting a trustee in charge of assets available to pay creditors. His former wife, Christina Shay, sought payment under their divorce settlement. The trustee's professionals contested her claims, and Shay objected that their fees were consuming the estate. In an earlier appeal, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel sent the law firm's fee award back because the findings did not sufficiently support it. That remand, the instruction sending the matter back, required closer review of the services, not a specified percentage reduction. Section three-thirty of the Bankruptcy Code allows reasonable fees for actual, necessary professional services. Listen for two review standards: de novo, a fresh look at a legal question, and abuse of discretion, which gives the bankruptcy judge room for reasonable judgment. Andrew Christensen will argue for Shay, seeking to overturn the fee award. Jean Barnier will respond for the trustee, Timothy Hoffman, defending it.

In re Metschan (No. 26-1090) — U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit, argued October 15, 2026.