Summary:

The Fourth Circuit's published decision in Bayramov v. American Credit Acceptance is much more than another case about shareholder standing. It is one of the clearest explanations I have ever read of what Judge Julius N. Richardson calls the "claims ownership principle"—the doctrine that determines who actually owns a cause of action when a business has been injured. This opinion deserves a place in law school casebooks.

Summary

The bankruptcy court denied summary judgment to both the debtor and MOHELA/Navient in a closely watched dispute over whether a private student loan qualifies as a "qualified education loan" under § 523(a)(8)(B). The court held that genuine issues of material fact remain regarding whether the loan exceeded the debtor's actual cost of attendance, an issue that could determine whether the debt was ever excepted from discharge in the first place.

Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol120/iss5/1

Available at: Power Failure: Rising Energy Debt Is Climbing into the Middle Class[/] (The Century Foundation, July 21, 2026)

This is the third and final pirate-themed case I've written about this week. I'll admit this one has the weakest connection. Unlike the Black Pearl and Blackbeard cases, there are no pirates in the opinion itself. Instead, the link is geographic: Bristol, England was the departure point for the voyage in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Sometimes that's enough of an excuse to end a pirate trilogy.

This is the second of three pirate-themed cases I'll be blogging about this week. After beginning with Black Pearl Vision v. G & G Funding, we now turn to Blackbeard's Triple Play. It seems that even the pirates are making appearances in the bankruptcy courts this summer.

Before getting to today's opinion, a brief programming note. Because the debtor in this case is Black Pearl Vision, I couldn't resist the obvious association with the legendary Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. So, with apologies to Captain Jack Sparrow, this is the first of three pirate-themed bankruptcy posts I'll be publishing this week. 

Summary:

A recent decision from the Western District of North Carolina serves as another reminder that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is ultimately about the accuracy of the information being reported—not whether the consumer believes the reporting is unfair, incomplete, or unsupported.

Summary:

In Golden Corral Corp. v. Illinois Union Insurance Co., the Fourth Circuit held that a subsequent change in state law—even one directly undermining a federal court's earlier prediction of that law—does not ordinarily constitute the "extraordinary circumstances" required to reopen a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6).

Summary:

A recent decision from the Western District of North Carolina approving the settlement in Williams & Dantzler v. PHH Mortgage Corp. is worth reading for anyone who litigates consumer class actions. While the court ultimately approved the settlement, it did so only after making unusually pointed observations about the modest value delivered to class members and substantially reducing the requested attorney's fee award.