In Montgomery v. GoodLeap, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina refused to compel arbitration where the plaintiff plausibly claimed he never agreed to the underlying loan in the first place.
What Judge Edwards has done in the DBMP decision—and what In re Wolbert foreshadowed years earlier—is to remind us that attorney-client privilege in bankruptcy is not a static shield. It is a conditional protection, one that can erode—sometimes quickly—once the debtor crosses the line from considering bankruptcy to committing to it.
In In re Brainard, the Western District of North Carolina (Charlotte Division) denied a pro se debtor’s motion for a stay pending appeal of an order converting her case to Chapter 7 for cause. Applying the familiar Rule 8007 / preliminary injunction framework, the court reiterated that a movant must satisfy all four factors: likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable injury, lack of harm to others, and service of the public interest.
In Bethea v. Equifax (W.D.N.C. Dec. 19, 2025), Judge Kenneth Bell offers both a procedural refresher and a cautionary tale for consumer litigants hoping to convert technical missteps into instant victory.
