Claimant's Failure to List Tort Claims in Bankruptcy Didn't Bar Him from Sharing in Recovery

An injured worker is not barred from prevailing on a third-party liability claim just because he failed to list the claim as a potential asset when he filed for bankruptcy, according to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a published decision Monday, the court noted that there was no appellate precedent in any circuit on whether a debtor could be estopped from getting any of the proceeds from the third-party claim, should it prove meritorious. The court filled this void by ruling that a debtor's ability to collect on his tort claim would depend on whether he had deliberately hid th...