After Notice and a Hearing

“The right to receive notice of a contemplated action in bankruptcy and the opportunity to be heard. But the right and the notice are sometimes severely curtailed by fast-moving courts and faster-moving debtors that seek relief on an expedited basis at the expense of what a typical non-bankruptcy lawyer might consider fair notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard.

The Code’s definition of ‘after notice and a hearing’ is a dream for any court that loves to freely wield its discretion—’after such notice as is appropriate in the particular circumstances, and such opportunity for a hearing as is appropriate in the particular circumstances.’ This latitude extends so far as to allow the court to eliminate the opportunity to be heard entirely—if notice is given and ‘there is insufficient time for a hearing to be commenced before such act must be done, and the court authorizes such action.'”

This definition is courtesy of our friends at Polsinelli who publish the Devil’s Dictionary of Bankruptcy Terms. You can access the Devil’s Dictionary here.