Judicial Estoppel and the Eleventh Circuit Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor

Judicial estoppel is an equitable doctrine intended to prevent a litigant from making a mockery of the judicial system by asserting inconsistent positions in different legal proceedings. The peculiarities of bankruptcy, however, are not always conducive to the easy application of judicial estoppel, particularly when it harms the debtor's creditors. Since the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided its first bankruptcy-related judicial estoppel case in 2002, the court has not fully addressed some important complexities raised by bankruptcy.