Can Debtors Have Their Cake and Eat It Too Under § 521

Dan Melchi is a Partner at Lueder, Larkin & Hunter, LLC in Alpharetta, GA., and is the lead attorney for the firm's Bankruptcy Division.

Prior to joining the firm, Dan was an Assistant Solicitor General in the Fulton County Solicitor General’s Office where he gained valuable trial experience. On January 9, 2018, Daniel Melchi was appointed to a seat on the Bench and Bar Committee for United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia as an attorney representative. The Bench and Bar Committee serves to collaborate between the District’s judges, attorneys, and the Clerk of the Court to recommend procedures, propose and give guidance for Local Rules and General Orders, and help to ensure an efficient and professional court system. Dan’s primary areas of practice are bankruptcy, community association law, insurance defense, litigation, and collections.

He received a B.A. in 2001 in political science and a B.A. in communications/advertising, and his J.D. in 2004 from Georgia State University College of Law, during which time he interned for Congressman John Lewis and participated in an externship with the Office of the Fulton County Solicitor General.

Hon. Edward J. Coleman, III is a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge in the Southern District of Georgia in Savannah.

Prior to his appointment, he was in private practice in Augusta, Ga., for 31 years with the firm of Surrett & Coleman, P.A., where he concentrated his practice in domestic relations, insurance defense, criminal defense and bankruptcy, with an emphasis on creditor and trustee representation. He also served as a chapter 7 panel trustee in the Southern District of Georgia from 1994-13. is admitted to practice in Georgia and before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Coleman served on the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia from 2003-10 and chaired that Section from 2008-09. He also was active in the Augusta Bar Association, serving as its president in 2013.

Judge Coleman received his B.B.A. in 1979 from Emory University, where he majored in accounting, and his J.D. in 1982 from the University of Georgia, where he served as a member of the Moot Court Executive Board.

Brian R. Anderson is a Board Certified Specialist in Business Bankruptcy law, focusing his law practice in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and commercial litigation. He has represented banking and financial institutions, contractors, secured and unsecured creditors, and guarantors before state and federal courts and has delivered counsel on a wide range of matters, including complex Chapter 11 cases, avoidance actions, and adversary proceedings.

Prior to private practice, Brian clerked for the Honorable Thomas W. Waldrep, Jr. of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina.

Brian earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and obtained his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law. During law school, he interned at the United States Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Small Business Administration.