In re Potter (Nov. 27, 2013)
After the Debtor’s case was dismissed, the chapter 13 trustee sought authority to distribute funds remaining in the bankruptcy estate to creditors. The Court ruled that the funds must be distributed to the Debtor, not the creditors. In doing so, the Court considered whether an unpublished district court opinion on this issue was binding authority. The Court recognized that the majority view is that district court decisions are not binding and that unpublished opinions might not warrant as much deference as published opinions, but ultimately found that whether or not the district court opinion was formally binding, it was highly persuasive.
WL Cite: In re Potter, No. 11-13013, 2013 WL 6196299, at *1 (Bankr. W.D. Tex. Nov. 27, 2013)