Bad Boys of Bankruptcy: Episode 8: The Unfortunate Heiress: Unwinding a Swindle

The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is a regularly used legal precept often asserted as a defense in bankruptcy courts to characterize actions as appeals or reconsideration of state court judgments. This is exactly what happened after a Massachusetts based con-man manipulated ‘Tess’, a wealthy woman at a crossroads out of approximately $6M and then convinced her to dismiss, with prejudice, a pending state court action against him. After overcoming this legal struggle, the litigation team was able to track down and collect many of the assets acquired by the con-man with Tess’s money for the benefit of her creditors. Judge Gunn is joined by Stephen Huggard, Scott Magee, and Chris Condon to discuss Rooker-Feldman, its limitations, and how a chapter 11 bankruptcy allowed her to claw back $2+ million, and granted ‘Tess’ a fresh start.